'.■■5«-,-^~-r-;^j¥r'i 




•OH THE 



NSAS SCHOOLS 



EIGHTH GRADE 





Class ^EBai^lS 

Book.^ -_X5 

GopyrightN". 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSnv 



,1) ,1 



i8I 



CLASSICS 

FOR THE KANSAS SCHOOLS 

EIGHTH GRADE 



Edited by 

A. M. THOROMAN, A. B., 

Secretary of the Kansas School Book Commi ^ion 



and 



H. W. DAVIS, A. M., 

Assistant Professor of the Engllfh Language, 
Kansas State Agricultural College 



PUBLISHED BY THE STATE OF KANSAS 

STATE PRINTING PLANT 

TOPEKA, 1915 






COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY THE STATE OF KANSAS 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 




JAN 22 1915 



CI.A;i91440 



PREFACE 

Representative selections from the best literature of 
interest to eager young readers are included in this col- 
lection. Power to get the thought readily and accurately, 
facility in expression, the development of good taste in 
reading, and a desire to continue to read the world's best 
literature, should be the natural results of the propei' 
study of these selections. 

To guide the pupil toward the fuller appreciation of 
these classics, the editors have arranged introductions, 
complete foot-notes, lists of words for study, and ques- 
tions for study and class discussion. The introductions 
contain brief biographical sketches and short settings and 
give the pupil a natural incentive to read each classic. 
The foot-notes assist him over difficult passages. The 
word-lists afford ample drill in the intelligent use of the 
dictionary. The questions provide a definite program of 
work by means of which each worker discovers for him- 
self the truth he seeks. 

A. M. Thoroman. 
H. W. Davis. 
(iii) 



CONTENTS 

pcffe 

1. The Chambered Nautilus Oliver Wendell Holmes. . . 1 

2. The Forest Hymn William Cullen Bryant. . 4 

3. The Man Without a Country. . Edward Everett Hale. ... 10 

4. A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens 53 

5. Evangeline Henry W. Longfellow .... 162 

6. The Death of a Titan Alexander Dumas 257 

7. The Burial of Sir John Moore. . Charles Wolfe 268 

8. The Bivouac of the Dead Theodore O'Hara 270 

9. The Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln 274 

10. Captain! My Captain! Walt Whitman 276 

11. Quivera Eugene F. Ware 278 

12. In the Valley of the Arickaree. . . Margaret Hill McCarter . . 283 

13. Each in His Own Tongue William Herbert Carruth. 310 

^*" '^'^ Hucte .'^"""'"^ °\ .^°'°";''' \ '^'"'''"" ^"*" ^^'''^- • ■ 312 

''■ ''%i;Me*Chase)'. '^'"*° | «- ^""^ ^-« 328 

16. The Combat Sir Walter Scott 360 

17. The Tournament at Ashby Sir Walter Scott 362 

(iv) 



CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 



THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS 

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) was born in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, in the same year in which Lincoln, Gladstone, Ten- 
nyson and Poe were born. He was the son of a Congregational 
minister, attended Phillips-Exeter Academy, and was graduated 
from Harvard College in its most famous class, that of 1829. He 
entered the law, but in a short time took up the study of medicine 
and anatomy. After studying two years in Paris he became a prac- 
ticing physician in Boston. He was made professor of anatomy and 
physiology at Dartmouth, and later, in 1847, at Harvard. He began 
to write poetry while he was a student at Harvard. Not long after 
his graduation he was frequently called upon to furnish the poems 
for the annual alumni dinners of his college class. The best known 
of these poems, "The Boys," was written in 1859. 

In 1857, when the Atlantic Monthly was established, James Rus- 
sell Lotvell became editor only on the condition that Doctor Holmes 
would become a contributor. Among Holmes' most famous con- 
tributions were "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," "The Pro- 
fessor at the Breakfast Table," and "The Poet at the Breakfast 
Table." 

Doctor Holmes has perhaps written more poems for special oc- 
casions than any other American poet. Many of these are written 
in a lighter vein and contain a rich strain of humor. Of his serious 
poems, "The Last Leaf" and "The Chambered Nautilus" are per- 
haps the best known. 

"The Chambered Nautilus" was published in "The Autocrat of 
the Breakfast Table," with the following introduction by the author i 
**I will read you a few lines, if you do not object, suggested by look- 
ing at a section of one of those chambered shells to which is given 
the name of Pearly Nautilus. We need not trouble ourselves about 

(1) 
—1 



2 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

the distinction between this and the Paper Nautilus, the Argonauta 
of the ancients. The name applied to both shows that each has long 
been compared to a ship, as you may see more fully in Webster's 
Dictionary or the "Encyclopedia" to which he refers. If you will 
look into Roget's Bridgewater Treaties, you will find a figure of one 
of those shells and a section of it. The last will show you the series 
of enlarging compartments successively dwelt in by the animal that 
inhabits this shell, which is built in a widening spiral. Can you find 
no lesson in this? " 

It is said that to make the meaning of this poem clear to a little 
girl Doctor Holmes sawed one of the shells of the Nautilus in two and 
used a section of it to illustrate the poem. Doctor Holmes has skill- 
fully used this little shellfish to illustrate the great truth of life, 
that true growth comes through quiet, constant development. 

THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS 

This is the ship of pearl/ which, poets feign,^ 

Sails the unshadowed main — 

The venturous bark that flings 
On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings 
In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren^ sings, 

And coral reefs ^ lie bare, 
Where the cold sea-maids^ rise to sun their streaming hair. 

Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; 

Wrecked is the ship of pearl ! 

And every chambered cell, 
Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell, 

1. Ship of pearl. The poet supposes the nautilus to be furnished 
with a membrane which serves as a sail. 

2. Feign. Pretend, or fancy. 

3. Siren. In ancient mythology the Sirens were birds with the 
faces of women, found on the shores and islands of the Mediterranean 
Sea. By their sweet singing they frequently enticed sailors to de- 
struction on the rocks. 

4. Coral reefs. Ridges or ranges of land lying at or near the sur- 
face of the water and at a short distance from the shore, built up 
by coral deposits on the bed of the ocean. 

5. Sea-maids. Mermaids. Fabled sea creatures, usually repre- 
sented as half maid and half fish. 



THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS 3 

As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell, 

Before thee lies revealed, — 
Its irised ceiling^ rent, its sunless crypt ^ unsealed! 

Year after year beheld the silent toil 

That spread his lustrous coil;' 

Still, as the spiral grew. 
He left the past year's dwelling for the new. 
Stole with soft step its shining archway through, 

Built up its idle door, 
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no 
more. 

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee. 

Child of the wandering sea. 

Cast from her lap, forlorn ! 
From thy dead lips a clearer note is born 
Than ever Triton^ blew from wreathed horn! 

While on mine ear it rings, 
Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that 
sings : — 

Build thee more stately mansions, my soul, 

As the swift seasons roll ! 

Leave thy low- vaulted past ! 
Let each new temple, nobler than the last, 
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, 

1. Irised ceiling. Referring to the many colors seen in the pearl- 
like inner surface of the shell. Iris was the goddess of the rainbow, 
hence "irised ceiling." 

2. Crypt. Vault, or sealed chamber. 

3. Lustrous coil. This expression refers to the brilliant colors of 
the inner surface of the shell. 

4. Triton. A fabled sea god, son of the god of the sea, Neptune. 
By a blast on a spiral seashell, referred to as his wreathed horn, he 
stirred up or quieted the waves. 



4 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Till thou at length art free, 
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea ! 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: feign, main, venturous, 
enchanted. Siren, gauze, wont, tenant, irised, crypt, lustrous, spiral, 
archway, forlorn, Triton, low-vaulted, dome. 

2. What suggested this poem to the author? 

3. Why does the author call the nautilus a "ship of pearl"? 

4. Explain the meanings of "unshadowed main," "gulfs en- 
chanted." 

5. Why do "its webs of living gauze no more unfurl"? 

6. Why does the author speak of this ship of pearl as "wrecked"? 

7. Who was the "frail tenant"? How did the tenant shape its 
"growing shell"? 

8. What in the poem tells of the growth of the nautilus? 

9. Explain "stole with soft step." 

10. Just how does the n-autilus grow? 

1 1 . What shows Holmes' enthusiasm for " the heavenly message " ? 

12. In what sense was the message brought by the nautilus shell? 

13. What "clear note" is born from the "dead lips" of the shell? 

14. Give in your own words the message of the nautilus shell to 
the poet, as shown in the last stanza. 



THE FOREST HYMN 

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) was born at Cumming- 
ton, Massachusetts. His father, who was a physician, was a man of 
much literary culture. Outside the district school, Bryant had 
little teaching except what his mother and contact with the rugged 
life of a Massachusetts farming community were able to give him. 
He was more serious and thoughtful than is usual with boys of his 
age and spent much time in his father's excellent library. He began 
writing poetry when he was only eight years old. His first poem 
was published when he was thirteen years old, and Thanatopsis, his 
masterpiece, was written before he was seventeen. This poem is so 
serious in thought and so finished in style that the editor of the 
North American Review, to whom it was sent by Bryant's father. 



THE FOREST HYMN 5 

could not be convinced that it was written by a mere boy, and de- 
clared that no one in America was capable of writing such a poem. 

Bryant received a year's schooling at Williams College. He 
studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1816. He had little 
success as a lawyer, however, and gradually turned his attention 
to literature. In 1825 he moved to New York and became editor 
of the Evening Post. This position he filled until his death. During 
nearly all this time he continued to write poetry. So effective was 
his work that he is often called our first national poet. 

In " The Forest Hymn " the author shows that God is present in 
the forest and that His creatures are manifestations of that presence. 
Bryant sets forth the constantly renewed freshness and growth of 
the forest as the true emblem of eternity, and appeals to men to know 
God through the quiet manifestations of His power rather than 
through violent expressions of His might as shown in the tempest, 
the flood, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. "He appears as the 
high priest of nature, offering his hymn at her altar, as one might 
leave a cherished possession reverently at the shrine of a saint." 

THE FOREST HYMN 

The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned 
To hew the shaft/ and lay the architrave/ 
And spread the roof above them — ere he framed 
The lofty vault,^ to gather and roll back 
The sound of anthems ; in the darkling wood, 
Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down, 
And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks 
And supplication. For his simple heart 
Might not resist the sacred influences 
Which, from the stilly twilight of the place. 
And from the gray old trunks that high in heaven 
Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound 
Of the invisible breath that swayed at once 

1. Shaft. Pillar or column. 

2. Architrave. That part of a building resting directly on the 
columns. 

3. Lofty vault. The poet is evidently thinking of the high, vaulted 
ceilings of cathedrals and churches. 



6 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

All their green tops, stole over him, and bowed 

His spirit with the thought of boundless power 

And inaccessible majesty.^ Ah, why 

Should we, in the world's riper years,^ neglect 

God's ancient sanctuaries,^ and adore 

Only among the crowd, and under roofs 

That our frail hands have raised? Let me, at least, 

Here, in the shadow of this aged wood. 

Offer one hymn — thrice happy, if it find 

Acceptance in His ear. 

Father, thy hand 
Hath reared these venerable columns, thou 
Didst weave this verdant roof. Thou didst look down 
Upon the naked earth, and, forthwith, rose 
All these fair ranks of trees. They, in thy sun, 
Budded, and shook their green leaves in thy breeze. 
And shot toward heaven. The century-living crow. 
Whose birth was in their tops, grew old and died 
Among their branches, till, at last, they stood. 
As now they stand, massy, and tall, and dark, 
Fit shrine for humble worshipper to hold 
Communion with his Maker. These dim vaults. 
These winding aisles, of human pomp or pride 
Report not. No fantastic carvings^ show 
The boast of our vain race to change the form 
Of thy fair works. But thou art here — thou fill'st 

1. Inaccessible majesty. Majesty difficult of approach, or not 
easily reached. 

2. World's riper years. Later, more civilized times. 

3. Ancient sanctuaries. Sanctuaries are sacred places. Many of 
the ancients worshipped in groves. 

4 Fantastic carvings. Intricate and curious carvings are com- 
mon in many of the finer cathedrals and churches, particularly those 
of the Old World. 



THE FOREST HYMN 7 

The solitude. Thou art in the soft winds 

That run along the summit of these trees 

In music ; thou art in the cooler breath 

That from the inmost darkness of the place 

Comes, scarcely felt ; the barky trunks, the ground, 

The fresh moist ground, are all instinct with^ thee. 

Here is continual worship; — nature, here. 

In the tranquillity that thou dost love. 

Enjoys thy presence. Noiselessly, around, 

From perch to perch, the solitary bird 

Passes ; and yon clear spring, that, midst its herbs, 

Wells softly forth and visits the strong roots 

Of half the mighty forest, tells no tale 

Of all the good it does. Thou hast not left 

Thyself without a witness, in these shades, 

Of thy perfections. Grandeur, strength, and grace 

Are here to speak of thee. This mighty oak — 

By whose immovable stem I stand and seem 

Almost annihilated^ — not a prince. 

In all that proud old world beyond the deep, 

Ere wore his crown as loftily as he 

Wears the green coronal of leaves^ with which 

Thy hand hath graced him. Nestled at his root 

Is beauty, such as blooms not in the glare 

Of the broad sun. That delicate forest flower. 

With scented breath, and look so like a smile. 

Seems, as it issues from the shapeless mould. 

An emanation^ of the indwelling Life, 

1. Instinct with. Filled with. 

2. Seem almost annihilated. The author feels that, in comparison 
with the mighty oak, he is nothing, 

3. Coronal of leaves. The leaves of the tree-top are compared to 
the prince's crown. 

4. Emanation. A bursting forth. 



8 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

A visible token of the upholding Love, 
That are the soul of this great universe. 

My heart is awed within me when I think 
Of the great miracle that still goes on, 
In silence, round me — the perpetual work 
Of thy creation, finished, yet renewed 
For ever. Written on thy works I read 
The lesson of thy own eternity. 
Lo ! all grow old and die — but see again, 
How on the faltering footsteps of decay 
Youth presses — ever gay and beautiful youth 
In all its beautiful forms. These lofty trees 
Wave not less proudly that their ancestors 
Moulder beneath them. Oh, there is not lost 
One of earth's charms : upon her bosom yet, 
After the flight of untold centuries. 
The freshness of her far beginning lies 
And yet shall lie. Life mocks the idle hate 
Of his arch enemy Death — yea, seats himself 
Upon the tyrant's throne^ — the sepulchre. 
And of the triumphs of his ghastly foe 
Makes his own nourishment. For he came forth 
From thine own bosom, and shall have no end. 

There have been holy men^ who hid themselves 
Deep in the woody wilderness, and gave 
Their lives to thought and prayer, till they outlived 
The generation born with them, nor seemed 
Less aged than the hoary trees and rocks 
Around them; — and there have been holy men 

1. Tyrant's throne. The tyrant is Death. His throne is the grave. 

2. Holy men. The author refers to the ancient hermits who 
lived a life of seclusion, in order that they might devote themselves 
wholly to thoughts about God. 



THE FOREST HYMN 9 

Who deemed it were not weW to pass life thus. 

But let me often to these solitudes 

Retire, and in thy presence reassure 

My feeble virtue. Here its enemies, 

The passions, at thy plainer footsteps shrink 

And tremble and are still. God ! when thou 

Dost scare the world with tempests, set on fire 

The heavens with falling thunderbolts, or fill, 

With all the waters of the firmament, 

The swift dark whirlwind that uproots the woods 

And drowns the villages ; when, at thy call, . 

Uprises the great deep and throws himself 

Upon the continent, and overwhelms 

Its cities — who forgets not, at the sight 

Of these tremendous tokens of thy power. 

His pride, and lays his strifes and follies by? 

Oh, from these sterner aspects of thy face 

Spare me and mine, nor let us need the wrath 

Of the mad unchained elements to teach 

Who rules them. Be it ours to meditate, 

In these calm shades thy milder majesty, 

And to the beautiful order of thy works 

Learn to conform the order of our lives. 

— William Cullen Bryant. 

(From Bryant's Complete Poems. Used by permission of the 
publishers, D. Appleton & Company.) 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: Shaft, architrave, anthems, 
majesty, supplication, inaccessible, venerable, verdant, communion, 
fantastic, sanctuaries, solitude, tranquillity, annihilated, coronal, 
grandeur, universe, perpetual, faltering, nourishment, firmament, 
emanation, token, aspects, elements, meditate. 

2. Where did men worship God before they had learned to 
build temples and churches? 

3. Who is here meant by the Mightiest? 



10 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

» 

4. What is the difference between thanks and supplication? 

5. How did the forests influence worship in earlier times? 

6. How is the author influenced by the forest? 

7. What part of the poem, then, is the real "hymn"? 

8. What were "God's ancient sanctuaries"? 

9. Explain, "venerable columns," "verdant roof." 

10. What were "dim vaults," "winding aisles"? 

11. Explain, "The soft winds that run along the summit of these 
trees in music." 

12. Why does the author say, "Here is continual worship"? 

13. In what way do "grandeur, strength, and grace" speak of 
deity? 

14. What is meant by "the indwelling Life," by "the uphold- 
ing Love"? 

15. From what source did even the delicate forest flower spring? 

16. Explain, "On the faltering steps of decay youth presses." 

17. Explain how Life makes his nourishment of the triumphs 
of Death. 

18. Why does the author long to retire to the solitude of the 
forest? 

19. What does the author prefer to the "sterner aspects of thy 
face"? 

20. Why is it easier to keep evil thoughts from your mind when 
you are alone in a great forest than it is when you are in a crowded 
street? 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 

Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909) was born in Boston, of 
distinguished parentage. Nathan Hale, the Revolutionary hero, 
was his great-uncle. His father, one of the leading citizens of New 
England, was the editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser, the first 
daily newspaper published in Boston. His mother was a sister of 
the famous orator, Edward Everett, for whom Hale was named. 

Young Hale finished his preparatory course ia the Boston Latin 
School and entered Harvard College, from which he was graduated 
at the age of seventeen. He taught in the Boston Latin School, 
studied theology, and was licensed to preach in 1842. He continued 
in the ministry practically all of the remainder of his life. In 1856 
he became pastor of the South Congregational Church in Boston, 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 11 

which pastorate he held for forty-seven years. He was chaplain of 
the United States Senate from 1903 until his death. 

Doctor Hale began his literary career almost immediately after 
his graduation from Harvard. He continued active literary work 
throughout his long life. He was a contributor to some of the lead- 
ing newspapers and magazines of the country throughout practically 
this entire period. Doctor Hale was an ardent abolitionist, and at 
one time was president of the New England Emigrant Aid Society. 
He was much interested in the struggle to make Kansas a free state, 
and his "History of Kansas and Nebraska," published in 1854, con- 
tained some of the strongest antislavery arguments of the period. 

Doctor Hale was intensely patriotic throughout his long life. 
His patriotism was of the kind that found expression in service. 
He was greatly interested in the outcome of the Civil War. " The 
Man Without a Country" was written for the purpose of stimulating 
patriotism at a time when the Southern Confederacy seemed to be 
gaining ground, and when unrest, if not positive disloyalty, was 
making itself felt in some sections of the North. The story was first 
published in the Atlantic Monthly of December, 1863. It at once 
became popular, was translated into many languages, and eventu- 
ally came to be regarded as one of the treasures of American litera- 
ture. 

THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 

I SUPPOSE that very few casual readers of the New 
York Herald of August 13th observed, in an obscure 
corner, among the ''Deaths," the announcement: 

NOLAN.i Died, on board U. S. Corvette2 Levant, 
Lat. 2^ 11' S., Long. 131° W., on the 11th of May, 
Philip Nolan. 

I happened to observe it, because I was stranded at the 

1. Nolan. When Doctor Hale was reading about Aaron Burr, 
preparatory to writing this story, he found frequent reference to a 
certain Nolan who had gone to Texas and disappeared. He selected 
Nolan as an appropriate name for his hero, and gave him the name 
Philip. The Philip Nolan of the story is purely a fictitious person. 
It was afterward found that the name of the real Nolan who went 
to Texas was Philip. 

2. Corvette (kor-vef). A low-decked war vessel of second rank, 
usually having only one tier of guns. 



12 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

old Mission-House^ in Mackinac,^ waiting for a Lake 
Superior steamer which did not choose to come, and I 
was devouring, to the very stubble, all the ciu'rent literature 
I could get hold of, even down to the deaths and marriages 
in the Herald. My memory for names and people is good, 
and the reader will see, as he goes on, that I had reason 
enough to remember Philip Nolan. There are hundreds 
of readers who would have paused at that announcement 
if the officer of the Levant who reported it had chosen to 
make it thus: ''Died, May 11th, The Man Without a 
Country." For it was as " The Man Without a Country" 
that poor Philip Nolan had generally been known by the 
officers who had him in charge during some fifty years, as, 
indeed, by all the men who sailed under them. I dare say 
there is many a man who has taken wine with him once 
a fortnight, in a three years^ cruise, who never knew that 
his name was Nolan, or whether the poor wretch had any 
name at all. 

There can now be no possible harm in telling this poor 
creature's story. Reason enough there has been till now, 
ever since Madison's Administration went out in 1817, 
for very strict secrecy, the secrecy of honor itself, among 
the gentlemei! of the navy who have had Nolan in suc- 
cessive charge. And certainly it speaks well for the esprit 
de corps^ of the profession and the personal honor of its 
members, that to the press this man's story has been- 
wholly unknown, — and, I think, to the country at large 

1. Mission-H^use. Probably one of the old French mission- 
houses. 

2. Mackinac (makl-na). A city in Northern Michigan, located 
on the strait of Mackinac. 

3. Esprit de corps (es-pre'de kor'). [French.] Spirit of the or- 
ganization, more generally the spirit pervading a service or profes- 
sion. It implies a jealous regard for the honor of the body as a whole. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 13 

also. I have reason to think, from some investigations I 
made in the Naval Archives^ when I was attached to the 
Bureau of Construction,^ that every official report relating 
to him was burned when Ross^ burned the public buildings 
at Washington. One of the Tuckers,^ or possibly one of 
the Watsons,^ had Nolan in charge at the end of the war ; 
and when, on returning from his cruise, he reported at 
Washington to one of the Crowninshields,^ who was in 
the Navy Department when he came home, he found 
that the Department ignored the whole business. Whether 
they really knew nothing about it, or whether it was a 
"non mi ricordo,"'^ determined on as a piece of policy, I 
do not know. But this I do know, that since 1817, and 
possibly before, no naval officer has mentioned Nolan in 
his report of a cruise. 

But, as I say, there is no need for secrecy any longer. 
And now the poor creature is dead, it seems to me worth 
while to tell a little of his story, by way of showing young 
Americans of to-day what it is to be a man without a 
country. 

1. Naval Archives. The official records of the navy. 

2. Bureau of Construction. That division in the Navy Depart- 
ment that has to do with building. 

3. Ross. Robert Ross (1766-1814). The British general who com- 
manded the troops that sacked and burned the city of Washington 
during the War of 1812. 

4. The Tuckers. Commodore Samuel Tucker (1747-1833) and 
Captain John Randolph Tucker (1812-1883) were distinguished 
officers in the American navy. 

5. One of the Watsons. Probably not "one of the Watsons," as 
there was no officer named Watson in the navy during the War 
of 1812. 

6. Crowninshields. Benjamin W. Crowninshield (1772-1851) 
was Secretary of the Navy from 1814 to 1818, but was not a naval 
officer. Arrant S. Crowninshield, born in 1843, was at one time a 
commander in the navy. 

7. Non mi ricordo (non me ri-c6r'do). [Italian.] I do not re- 
member. The phrase here means a thing forgotten. 



14 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Philip Nolan was as fine a young officer as there was 
in the ''Legion of the West," as the Western division of 
our army was then called. When Aaron Burr^ made his 
first dashing expedition down to New Orleans in 1805, at 
Fort Massac,^ or somewhere above on the river, he met, 
as the devil would have it, this gay, dashing, bright young 
fellow, at some dinner party, I think. Burr marked him, 
talked to him, walked with him, took him a day or two's 
voyage in his flatboat, and, in short, fascinated him. For 
the next year barrack life was very tame to poor Nolan. 
He occasionally availed himself of the permission the 
great man had given him to write to him. Long, high- 
worded, stilted letters the poor boy wrote and rewrote and 
copied. But never a line did he have in reply from the gay 
deceiver. The other boys in the garrison sneered at him 
because he sacrificed, in this unrequited affection for a 
politician, the time which they devoted to Monongahela, 
sledge, and high-low-jack.^ Bourbon, euchre, and poker 
were still unknown. But one day Nolan had his revenge. 
This time Burr came down the river, not as an attorney 

1. Aaron Burr. Aaron Burr (1756-1836) served with distinction 
in the American Revolution, became a United States Senator from 
the State of New York, and was Vice-President of the United States 
froni 1801 to 1805. He killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804, 
a thing which brought Burr into great disfavor all over the country. 
Burr's proud nature resented this, and he seemed to lose all sense 
of loyalty to his country. In 1805 he formed a plan for conquering 
Texas, and possibly Mexico. Through the treachery of various men 
on whom Burr depended, the plan failed, and he was arrested in 
Mississippi Territory in January, 1807, and indicted for treason. 
He was tried at Richmond, Virginia, in May, 1807, but was acquit- 
ted, largely for lack of technical proof of his guilt. His life after the 
trial was one of bitter disappointment and disgrace. 

2. Fort Massac (mas'ak). This fort was situated in the Terri- 
tory of Louisiana, north of New Orleans. 

3. Monongahela, sledge, and high-low-jack (mo-non'ga-he'la). 
Monongahela was a name applied to a kind of whisky made along 
the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania. Sledge and high-low-jack 
are card games. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 15 

seeking a place for his office, but as a disguised conqueror. 
He had defeated I know not how many district attorneys ; 
he had dined at I know not how many pubHc dinners; 
he had been heralded in I know not how many Weekly 
Arguses,^ and it was rumored that he had an army behind 
him and an empire before him. It was a great day — his 
arrival — to poor Nolan. Burr had not been at the fort 
an hour before he sent for him. That evening he asked 
Nolan to take him out in his skiff, to show him a cane- 
brake^ or a cottonwood tree, as he said — really to seduce 
him ; and by the time the sail was over Nolan was enlisted 
body and soul. From that time, though he did not yet 
know it, he lived as a man without a country. 

What Burr meant to do I know no more than you, 
dear reader. It is none of our business just now. Only, 
when the grand catastrophe came, and Jefferson and the 
House of Virginia^ of that day undertook to break on the 
wheel ^ all the possible Clarences of the then House of 
York, ^ by the great treason trial at Richmond, some of the 

1. Weekly Arguses. Argus was the name of the famous hundred- 
eyed character in Greek mythology. It was a favorite name for 
weekly newspapers in the early part of our history. 

2. Canehrake. A cane thicket. In the southern part of the 
United States giant cane grows very dense. 

3. Jefferson and the House of Virginia. Of the first five Presi- 
dents of the United States, four were from the State of Vir- 
ginia. Presidents Madison and Monroe were warm personal 
friends of President Jefferson, were of the same political party, and 
were supposed to carry out Jefferson's ideas. For these reasons the 
Federalists, particularly those of New England, often used the ex- 
pression, " The House of Virginia," in referring to these Presidents 
and the administration of the government under them. 

4. Break on the wheel. The wheel was an instrument of torture 
used in the Dark Ages. It usually resulted in the death of the victim. 
Here the term means to ruin politically. 

5. Clarences of the then House of York. Edward IV., of the House 
of York, put his brother, the Duke of Clarence, to death to 
strengthen his own hold on the English throne. 



16 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

lesser fry in that distant Mississippi Valley, which was far- 
ther from us than Puget's Sound is to-day, introduced the 
like novelty on their provincial stage ; and, to while away 
the monotony of the summer at Fort Adams, ^ got up, for 
spectacles,^ a string of court-martials on the officers there. 
One and another of the colonels and majors were tried, 
-and, to fill out the list, little Nolan, against whom. Heaven 
knows, there was evidence enough that he was sick of the 
service, had been willing to be false to it, and would have 
obeyed any order to march anywhither with any one who 
would follow him, had the order only been signed, ''By 
command of His Exc. A. Burr."^ The courts dragged on. 
The big flies escaped — rightly for all I know. Nolan was 
proved guilty enough, as I say ; yet you and I would never 
have heard of him, reader, but that, when the president 
of the court asked him at the close whether he wished to 
say anything to show that he had always been faithful to 
the United States, he cried out, in a fit of frenzy : 

" D ^n the United States ! I wish I may never hear 

of the United States again ! " 

I suppose he did not know how the words shocked old 
Colonel Morgan, who was holding the court. Half the 
officers who sat in it had served through the Revolution, 
and their lives, not to say their neclis, had been risked for 
the very idea which he so cavalierly^ cursed in his madness. 
He, on his part, had grown up in the West of those days, 

1. Fort Adams. A fort on the Mississippi River in the extreme 
southwestern part of Mississippi. 

2. Spectacles. Entertainments. 

3. By command of His Exc. A. Burr. His Excellency is a title used 
in referring to the President of the United States. The title is also 
used in referring to governors of States and to other officials of 
lower rank than that of President. 

4. Cavalierly. Haughtily, disdainfully. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 17 

in the midst of ''Spanish plot/' "Orleans plot,"^ and all 
the rest. He had been educated on a plantation where 
the finest company was a Spanish officer or a French 
merchant from Orleans.- His education, such as it was, 
had been perfected in commercial expeditions to Vera 
Cruz,^ and I think he told me his father once hired an 
Englishman to be a private tutor for a winter on the 
plantation. He had spent half his youth with an older 
brother, hunting horses in Texas; and, in a word, to him 
"United States" was scarcely a reality. Yet he had been 
fed by "United States" for all the years since he had been 
in the army. He had sworn on his faith as a Christian to 
be true to "United States.'' It was "United States" 
which gave him the uniform he wore, and the sword bj^ his 
side. Xay, my poor Nolan, it was only because "United 
States" had picked you out first as one of her own con- 
fidential men of honor, that "A. BmT" cared for you a 
straw more than for the flatboat men who sailed his ark 
for him. 

I do not excuse Nolan ; I only explain to the reader why 
he damned his country, and wished he might never hear 
her name again. 

He never did hear her name but once again. From 
that moment, September 23, 1807, till the day he died, 
May 11, 1863, he never heard her name again. For that 
half-centur>^ and more he was a man without a countiy. 

1. Spanish plot, Orleans plot. In those days the States of Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee and the Territories lying along the Mississippi 
River did not feel themselves essentially a part of the United States. 
They were cut off by the Allegheny Mountains, at that time a for- 
midable barrier to trade and general communication. Plots to join 
this western country to Spanish territon,', or to make it an inde- 
pendent nation, were common. Nolan felt no particular attachment 
to the United States, hence fell in readily with Burr's proposals. 

2. Orleans. New Orleans. 

3. Vera Cruz (va'ra krooz). The chief seaport of Mexico, sit- 
uated on the east coast. 

—2 



18 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Old Morgan, as I said, was terribly shocked. If Nolan 
had compared George Washington to Benedict Arnold, ^ or 
had cried, ''God save King George," ^ Morgan would not 
have felt worse. He called the court into his private room, 
and returned in fifteen minutes, with a face like a sheet, 
to say: 

"Prisoner, hear the sentence of the court! The court 
decides, subject to the approval of the President, that 
you never hear the name of the United States again." 

Nolan laughed. But nobody else laughed. Old Morgan 
was too solemn, and the whole room was hushed dead as 
night for a minute. Even Nolan lost his swagger in a 
moment. Then Morgan added: **Mr. Marshal, take the 
prisoner to Orleans in an armed boat, and deliver him to 
the naval commander there." 

The marshal gave his orders, and the prisoner was taken 
out of court. 

"Mr. Marshal," continued old Morgan, "see that no 
one mentions the United States to the prisoner. Mr. 
Marshal, make my respects to Lieutenant Mitchell at 
Orleans, and request him to order that no one shall men- 
tion the United States to the prisoner while he is on board 
ship. You will receive your written orders from the 
officer on duty here this evening. The court is adjourned 
without day."^ 

I have always supposed that Colonel Morgan himself 

1. Benedict Arnold. Benedict Arnold was the traitor of the Rev- 
olution. 

2. God save King George. This was an expression used by Eng- 
lish subjects to show loyalty to their King. It was often used 
by Tories during the Revolution to show their love for King George. 
One can therefore readily understand how "Old Morgan" and his 
fellow officers, who had served through the Revolution, must have 
regarded Nolan when he cursed the United States. 

3. Without day. Without setting a date for meeting. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 19 

took the proceedings of the court to Washington city and 
explained them to Mr. Jefferson. Certain it is that the 
President approved them ; certain, that is, if I may beheve 
the men who say they have seen his signature. Before the 
Nautilus got round from New Orleans to the Northern 
Atlantic coast with the prisoner on board, the sentence 
had been approved, and he was a man without a country. 

The plan then adopted was substantially the same 
which was necessarily followed ever after. Perhaps it was 
suggested by the necessity of sending him by water from 
Fort Adams and Orleans. The Secretary of the Navy — 
it must have been the first Crowninshield, though he is a 
man I do not remember — was requested to put Nolan on 
board a government vessel bound on a long cruise, and to 
direct that he should be only so far confined there as to 
make it certain that he never saw or heard of the country. 
We had few long cruises then, and the navy was very 
much out of favor ; and as almost all of this story is tradi- 
tional, as I have explained, I do not know certainly what 
his first cruise was. But the commander to whom he was 
intrusted — perhaps it was Tingey or Shaw,' though I 
think it was one of the younger men — we are all old enough 
now — regulated the etiquette and the precautions of the 
affair, and according to his scheme they were carried out, 
I suppose, till Nolan died. 

When I was second officer^ of the Intrepid, some thirty 
years after, I saw the original paper of instructions. I 
have been sorry ever since that I did not copy the whole 
of it. It ran, however, much in this way : 

1. Tingey or Shaw. Thomas Tingey (1750-1829) and John Shaw 
(1773-1823) were captains in the United States navy. 

2. Second officer. An ofRter on shipboard ranking next to cap- 
tain. 



20 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Washington [with the date, which must have 
been late in 1807.] 

Sir — You will receive from Lieutenant Neale the person of 
Philip Nolan, late a lieutenant in the United States army. 

This person on his trial by court-martial expressed with an oath 
the wish that he might "never hear of the United States again." 

The court sentenced him to have his wish fulfilled. 

For the present, the execution of the order is intrusted by the 
President to this department. 

You will take the prisoner on board your ship, and keep him 
there with such precautions as shall prevent his escape. 

You will provide him with such quarters, rations, and clothing 
as would be proper for an officer of his late rank, if he were a pas- 
senger on your vessel on the business of his Government. 

The gentlemen on board will make any arrangements agreeable 
to themselves regarding his society. He is to be exposed to no in- 
dignity of any kind, nor is he ever unnecessarily to be reminded 
that he is a prisoner. 

But under no circumstances is he ever to hear of his country or 
to see any information regarding it; and you will especially caution 
all the officers under your command to take care that, in the various 
indulgences which may be granted, this rule, in which his punish- 
ment is involved, shall not be broken. 

It is the intention of the Government that he shall never again 
see the country which he has disowned. Before the end of your 
cruise you will receive orders which will give effect to this inten- 
tion. Resp'y yours, 

W. Southard, 

For the Sec'y of the Navy. 

If I had only preserved the whole of this paper, there 
would be no break in the beginning of my sketch of this 
story. For Captain Shaw, if it was he, handed it to his 
successor in the charge, and he to his, and I suppose the 
commander of the Levant has it to-day as his authority 
for keeping this man in this mild custody. 

The rule adopted on board the ships on which I have 
met "the man without a country'' was, I think, trans- 
mitted from the beginning. No mess^ liked to have him 

1. Mess. A group of men who eat together on board a warship 
or in service in the army. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 21 

permanently, because his presence cut off all talk of home 
or the prospect of return, of politics or letters, of peace or 
of war — cut off more than half the talk men liked to have 
at sea. But it was always thought too hard that he should 
never meet the rest of us, except to touch hats, and we 
finally sank into one system. He was not permitted to 
talk with the men unless an officer was by. With officers 
he had unrestrained intercourse, as far as they and he 
chose. But he grew shy, though he had favorites: I was 
one. Then the captain always asked him to dinner on 
Monday. Every mess in succession took up the invitation 
in its turn. According to the size of the ship, you had him 
at your mess more or less often at dinner. His breakfast 
he ate in his own stateroom^ — he always had a stateroom — 
which was where a sentinel, or somebody on the watch, 
could see the door. And whatever else he ate or drank, 
he ate or drank alone. Sometimes, when the marines ^ 
or sailors had any special jollification, they were permitted 
to invite ''Plain Buttons," as they called him. Then 
Nolan was sent with some officer, and the men were for- 
bidden to speak of home while he was there. I believe 
the theory was that the sight of his punishment did them 
good. They called him ''Plain Buttons," because, while 
he always chose to wear a regulation army uniform, he was 
not permitted to wear the army button, for the reason 
that it bore either the initials or the insignia of the country^ 
he had disowned. 

1. Stateroom. An individual apartment or sleeping room on 
board ship. 

2. Marines. Soldiers serving on board a war ship. Marines are 
clothed, armed, and drilled practically as are land soldiers, but are 
assigned to service on war vessels. 

3. Insignia of the country. The marks, signs or emblems by 
which the country is designated. 



22 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

I remember, soon after I joined the navy, I was on 
shore with some of the older officers from our ship and 
from the Brandywine, which we had met at Alexandria. 
We had leave to make a party and go up to Cairo and the 
Pyramids. As we jogged along (you went on donkeys 
then) some of the gentlemen (we boys called them 
"Dons,"^ but the phrase was long since changed) fell 
to talking about Nolan, and some one told the system 
which was adopted from the first about his books and 
other reading. As he was almost never permitted to go 
on shore, even though the vessel lay in port for months, 
his time at the best hung heavy ; and everybody was per- 
mitted to lend him books, if they were not published in 
America and made no allusion to it. These were common 
enough in the old days, when people in the other hemi- 
sphere talked of the United States as little as we do of Par- 
aguay.2 He had almost all the foreign papers that came 
into the ship, sooner or later ; only somebody must go over 
them first, and cut out any advertisement or stray para- 
graph that alluded to America. This was a little cruel 
sometimes, when the back of what was cut out might be 
as innocent as Hesiod.^ Right in the midst of one of 
Napoleon's battles,^ or one of Canning's speeches,^ poor 
Nolan would find a great hole, because on the back of that 

1. Dons. Spanish noblemen. I^ater the term was used to de- 
note Spaniards of all classes. 

2. Paraguay (pa-ra-gwi'). A small country in South America. 
It was not so well known at the time this story was written as it is 
now. 

3. Innocent o^ Hesiod (he'si-6d). Hesiod was a Greek poet who 
lived in the eighth century before Christ. Of course, what he had 
written could contain nothing pertaining to the United States. 

4. Napoleon's battles. Napoleon Bonaparte was at the height of 
his power at the time Nolan's sentence was passed. 

5. Canning's speeches. George Canning (1770-1827) was a 
famous English statesman and orator. His speeches did much to 
arouse European opposition to Napoleon. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 23 

page of the paper there had been an advertisement of a 
packet^ for New York, or a scrap from the President's 
message. I say this was the first time I ever heard of this 
plan, which afterwards I had enough, and more than 
enough, to do with. I remember it because poor PhilUps, 
who was of the party, as soon as the allusion to reading 
was made, told a story of something which happened at 
the Cape of Good Hope on Nolan's first voyage ; and it is 
the only thing I ever knew of that voyage. They had 
touched at the cape, and had done the civil things with 
the English admiral and the fleet; and then, leaving for a 
long cruise up the Indian Ocean, Phillips had borrowed a 
lot of English books from an officer, which, in those days, 
as indeed in these, was quite a windfall. Among them, as 
the devil would order,^ was The Lay of the Last Minstrel,^ 
which they had all of them heard of, but which most of 
them had never seen. I think it could not have been 
published long. Well, nobody thought there could be 
any risk of anything national in that, though Phillips 
swore old Shaw had cut out TheTempest^ from Shakespeare 
before he let Nolan have it, because he said ''the Bermudas 
ought to be ours, and, by Jove, should be one day." So 
Nolan was permitted to join the circle one afternoon when 
a lot of them sat on deck smoking and reading aloud. 
People do not do such things so often now, but when I 
was young we got rid of a great deal of time so. Well, so 
it happened that in his turn Nolan took the book and read 

1. Packet. A vessel carrjdng dispatches, mail, passengers and 
light freight, and having fixed sailing dates. 

2. Had done the civil thing. Had observed the usual courtesies. 

3. As the devil would order. As bad luck would have it. 

4. The Lay of the Last Minstrel. This famous poem by Sir Wal- 
ter Scott was published in 1805 and at once became very popular. 

5. The Tempest. Shakespeare's play. The reference is to act I, 
scene 2, line 229. , 



24 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

to the others ; and he read very well, as I know. Nobody 
in the circle knew a line of the poem, only it was all magic 
and border chivalry, ^ and was ten thousand years ago.^ 
Poor Nolan read steadily through the fifth canto,^ stopped 
a minute and drank something, and then began, without 
a thought of what was coming: 

"Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself hath said," — 

It seems impossible to us that anybody ever heard this 
for the first time ; but all these fellows did then, and poor 
Nolan himself went on, still unconsciously or mechanically : 

"This is my own, my native land!" 

Then they all saw something was to pay; but he ex- 
pected to get through, I suppose, turned a little pale, but 
plunged on — 

"Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, 
As home his footsteps he hath turned 

From wandering on a foreign strand? — 
If such there breathe, go, mark him well," — 

By this time the men were all beside themselves,^ wish- 
ing there was any way to make him turn over two pages ; 
but he had not quite presence of mind for that. He gagged 
a little, colored crimson, and staggered on — 

1. Magic and border chivalry. The poem tells of mysterious 
happenings and of bold deeds of warrior knights, which took place 
on the border between Scotland and England. 

2. Ten thousand years ago. An expression which is here used to 
convey an idea of indefinite time. 

3. Canto. The early English poems were sung by wandering 
minstrels. A canto consisted of as much of the poem as could be 
sung at one time. Later the canto, treating a group of related inci- 
dents, came to be one of the natural divisions of a long poem. The 
Lay of the Last Minstrel has six cantos. 

4. Beside themselves. Greatly excited. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 25 

"For him no minstrel raptures swell; 
High though his titles, proud his name, 
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim. 
Despite these titles, power, and pelf, 
The wretch, concentred all in self," — 

and here the poor fellow choked, ^ could not go on, but 
started up, swung the book into the sea, vanished into 
his stateroom, "and by Jove," said Phillips, ''we did not 
see him for two months again. And I had to make up 
some beggarly story^ to that English surgeon why I did not 
return his Walter Scott to him." 

That story shows about the time when Nolan's brag- 
gadocio^ must have broken down. At first, they said, he 
took a very high tone, considered his imprisonment a mere 
farce, affected^ to enjoy the voyage, and all that; but 
Phillips said that after he came out of his stateroom he 
never was the same man again. He never read aloud 
again, unless it was the Bible or Shakespeare, or something 
else he was sure of. But it was not that merely. He never 
entered in with the other young men exactly as a com- 
panion again. He was always shy afterwards, when I 
knew him — very seldom spoke, unless he was spoken to, 
except to a very few friends. He hghted up occasionally 
— I remember late in his life hearing him fairly eloquent 
on something which had been suggested to him by one of 

1. And here the 'poor fellow choked. If Nolan had gone on he 
would have read: 

"Living, shall forfeit fair renown, 
And, doubly dying, shall go down 
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, 
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung." 

2. Beggarly story. A petty excuse or "beggar's lie." The ref- 
erence is to the ease with which beggars lied. 

3. Nolan's braggadocio. His boasting indifference to the pun- 
ishment . 

4. Affected. Pretended. 



26 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Flechier's sermons^ — but generally he had the nervous, 
tired look of a heart-wounded man. 

When Captain Shaw was coming home — if, as I say, 
it was Shaw — rather to the surprise of everybody they 
made one of the Windward Islands, ^ and lay off and on for 
nearly a week. The boys said the officers were sick of 
salt junk,^ and meant to have turtle soup before they came 
home. But after several days the Warren came to the 
same rendezvous;^ they exchanged signals; she sent to 
Phillips and these homeward-bound men letters and papers, 
and told them she was outward bound, perhaps to the 
Mediterranean, and took poor Nolan and his traps on the 
boat back to try his second cruise. He looked very blank 
when he was told to get ready to join her. He had known 
enough of the signs of the sky to know that till that 
moment he was going "home." But this was a distinct 
evidence of something he had not thought of, perhaps — 
that there was no going home for him, even to a prison. 
And this was the first of some twenty such transfers, which 
brought him sooner or later into half our best vessels, but 
which kept him all his life at least some hundred miles 
from the country he had hoped he might never hear of 
again. 

It may have been on that second cruise — it was once 
when he was up the Mediterranean — that Mrs. Graff, 
the celebrated Southern beauty of those days, danced with 
him. They had been lying a long time in the Bay of 

1. Flechier's sermons. Esprit Flechier (es'pre fla-shj^-a') [1632- 
1710] was a noted French pulpit orator. 

2. Windward Islands. A chain of the West India Islands extend- 
ing from Porto Rico to Trinidad. They are sometimes called the 
Lesser Antilles. 

3. Salt junk. The sailor's name for the hard salt meat of the 
sailor's ration on shipboard. 

4. Rendezvous (raN'de-voo). An appointed meeting place. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 27 

Naples, and the officers were very intimate in the English 
fleet, and there had been great festivities, and our men 
thought they must give a great ball on board the ship. 
How they ever did it on board the Warren I am sure I do 
not know. Perhaps it was not the Warren, or perhaps 
ladies did not take up so much room as they do now.^ 
They wanted to use Nolan's stateroom for something, and 
they hated to do it without asking him to the ball ; so the 
captain said they might ask him, if they would be respon- 
sible that he did not talk with the wrong people, "who 
would give him intelligence." ^ So the dance went on, the 
finest party that had ever been known, I dare say; for I 
never heard of a man-of-war ball that was not. For 
ladies they had the family of the American consul, one or 
two travelers who had adventured so far, and a nice bevy^ 
of English girls and matrons, perhaps Lady Hamilton^ 
herself. 

Well, different officers relieved each other in standing 
and talking with Nolan in a friendly way, so as to be sure 
that nobody else spoke to him. The dancing went on with 
spirit, and after a while even the fellows who took this 
honorary guard of Nolan ceased to fear any contretemps.^ 
Only when some English lady — Lady Hamilton, as I said, 
perhaps — called for a set of ''American dances," an odd 
thing happened. Everybody then danced contradances.^ 

1. Ladies did not take up so much room as they do now. Hoop- 
skirts were in fashion when this story was written. 

2. Intelligence. News from America. 

3. Bevy. Company. 

4. Lady Hamilton. The wife of Sir William Hamilton, English 
ambassador at Naples. 

5. Contretemps (koN'tr'-taN'). Unfortunate mischance; embar- 
rassing accident. 

6. Contradances. Square dances; dances in which partners stand 
opposite each other. 



28 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

The black band, nothing loath, conferred as to what 
"American dances" were, and started off with "Virginia 
Reel," which they followed with "Money Musk," which, 
in its turn in those days, should have been followed by 
" The Old Thirteen."^ But just as Dick, the leader, tapped 
for his fiddles to begin, and bent forward, about to say, 
in true negro state, "'The Old Thirteen,' gentlemen and 
ladies!" as he had said "'Virginny Reel,' if you please!" 
and "'Money Musk,' if you please!" the captain's boy 
tapped him on the shoulder, whispered to him, and he did 
not announce the name of the dance. He merely bowed, 
began on the air, and they all fell to, the officers teaching 
the English girls the figure, but riot telling them why it 
had no name. 

But that is not the story I started to tell. As the danc- 
ing went on, Nolan and our fellows all got at ease, as I said ; 
so much so that it seemed quite natural for him to bow to 
that splendid Mrs. Graff, and say : 

"I hope you have not forgotten me, Miss Rutledge. 
Shall I have the honor of dancing?" 

He did it so quickly that Shubrick, who was by him, 
could not hinder him. She laughed and said : 

"I am not Miss Rutledge any longer, Mr. Nolan; but 
I will dance all the same" — just nodded to Shubrick, as 
if to say he must leave Mr. Nolan to her, and led him off 
to the place where the dance was forming. 

Nolan thought he had got his chance. He had known 
her at Philadelphia, and at other places had met her, and 
this was a godsend. You could not talk in contradances, 
as you do in cotillions,^ or even in the pauses of waltzing ; 

1. The Old Thirteen. A dance named in honor of the thirteen 
original States. 

2, Cotillions (ko-til'yunz). In the cotillion the partners have 
opportunities to converse while they are waiting their turn. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 29 

but there were chances for tongues and sounds, as well as 
for eyes and blushes. He began with her travels, and 
Europe, and Vesuvius, and the French; and then, when 
they had worked down, and had that long talking time at 
the bottom of the set, he said boldly — a little pale, she 
said, as she told m.e the story years after : 

"And what do you hear from home, Mrs. Graff?'' 

And that splendid creature looked through him. Jove ! 
how she must have looked through him! 

"Home! Mr. Nolan! I thought you were the man who 
never wanted to hear of home again!" — and she walked 
directly up the deck to her husband, and left poor Nolan, 
alone, as he always was. He did not dance again. 

I can not give any history of him in order ; nobody can 
now ; and, indeed, I am not trying to. These are the tradi- 
tions, which I sort out as I believe them, from the myths 
which have been told about this man for forty years. The 
lies that have been told about him are legion.^ The fellows 
used to say he was the "Iron Mask'';^ and poor George 
Pons went to his grave in the belief that this was the author 
of "Junius,"^ who was being punished for his celebrated 
libel on Thomas Jefferson. Pons was not very strong in 
the historical line. 

A happier story than either of these I have told is of 
the war. That came along soon after. I have heard this 

1. Legion. Very many. 

2. Iron mask. "The Man in the Iron Mask" was a French state 
prisoner in the reign of Louis XIV. He was confined in the Bastile 
and in other prisons. He always wore an iron mask covered with 
black velvet. His identity has occasioned much speculation, but 
still remains one of the mysteries of history. 

3. Junius. The pen name of the author of a series of letters 
which appeared in the London Public Advertiser from 1769 to 1772. 
These letters, which were on political subjects and in opposition to 
the English government, created a stir at the time. No one knows 
positively who wrote them. They had nothing to do with Thomas 
Jefferson. 



30 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

affair told in three or four ways ; and, indeed, it may have 
happened more than once. But which ship it was on I 
can not tell. However, in one, at least, of the great frigate 
duels^ with the English, in which the navy was really 
baptized, it happened that a round shot from the enemy 
entered one of our ports square, and took right down the 
officer of the gun himself and almost every man of the 
gun's crew. Now you may say what you choose about 
courage, but that is not a nice thing to see. But, as the 
men who were not killed picked themselves up, and as 
they and the surgeon's people were carrying off the bodies, 
there appeared Nolan, in his shirt sleeves, with the ram- 
mer in his hand, and, just as if he had been the officer, 
told them off with authority — who should go to the cock- 
pit^ with the wounded men, who should stay with him — 
perfectly cheery, and with that way which makes men feel 
sure all is right and is going to be right. And he finished 
loading the gun with his own hands, aimed it, and bade 
the men fire. And there he stayed, captain of that gun, 
keeping those fellows in spirits, till the enemy struck;^ 
sitting on the carriage while the gun was cooling, though 
he was exposed all the time ; showing them easier ways to 
handle heavy shot; making the raw hands laugh at their 
own blunders; and when the gun cooled again, getting it 
loaded and fired twice as often as any other gun on the 

1. Great frigate duels. The author refers to such fights as those 
between the Constitution and the Guerriere, the United States and 
the Macedonia, and the Chesapeake and Shannon. All these occurred 
in the War of 1812. As the navy had seen little service up to this 
time, the author speaks in the next line of its having been baptized 
in these battles. 

2. Cockpit. A place below the waterline of the old sailing war 
vessel, where those wounded in an engagement were taken for 
surgical aid. 

3. Struck. Struck its colors; that is, hauled down its flag as a 
sign of surrender. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 31 

ship. The captain walked forward by way of encouraging 
the men, and Nolan touched his hat and said: 

"I am showing them how we do this in the artillery/ 
sir." 

And this is the part of the story where all the legends 
agree — that the commodore said : 

"I see you do, and I thank you, sir; and I shall never 
forget this day, sir, and you never shall, sir." 

And after the whole thing was over, and he had had the 
Englishman's sword,^ in the midst of the state and cere- 
mony of the quarter-deck, he said : 

''Where is Mr. Nolan? Ask Mr. Nolan to come here." 

And when Nolan came the captain said: 

"Mr. Nolan, we are all very grateful to you to-day; 
you are one of us to-day; you will be named in the dis- 
patches."^ 

And then the old man took off his own sword of cere- 
mony and gave it to Nolan, and made him put it on. The 
man told me this who saw it. Nolan cried like a baby, 
and well he might. He had not worn a sword since that 
infernal day at Fort Adams. But always afterwards, on 
occasions of ceremony, he wore that quaint old French 
sword of the commodore's. 

The captain did mention him in the dispatches. It was 
always said he asked that he might be pardoned. He 
wrote a special letter to the Secretary of War. But 
nothing ever came of it. As I said, that was about the 

1. Artillery. Nolan refers here to his experience as an officer in 
the artillery, a branch of the land service. 

2. The Englishman's sword. When a commander surrenders his 
ship to the enemy he comes on board the victorious vessel and de- 
livers his sword to his conqueror. 

3. Dispatches. The commander's official report of the engage- 
ment. To be named in the official report was an honor much sought 
by all officers in the army and the navy. 



32 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

time when they began to ignore the whole transaction at 
Washington, and when Nolan's imprisonment began to 
carry itself on because there was nobody to stop it without 
any new orders from home. 

I have heard it said that he was with Porter^ when he 
took possession of the Nukahiwa Islands. Not this 
Porter, you know, but old Porter, his father, Essex Porter 
— that is, the old Essex Porter, not this Essex. As an 
artillery officer, who had seen service in the West, Nolan 
knew more about fortifications, embrasures,^ ravelins,^ 
stockades,^ and all that, than any of them did; and he 
worked with a right good will in fixing that battery all 
right. I have always thought it was a pity Porter did 
not leave him in command there with Gamble.^ That 
would have settled all the question about his punishment. 
We should have kept the islands, and at this moment we 
should have one station in the Pacific Ocean. Our French 
friends, too, when they wanted this little watering-place, 
would have found it was preoccupied. But Madison and 
the Virginians,^ of course, flung all that away. 

1. Porter . . . Not this Porter. The Porter who took pos- 
session of the Nukahiwa (noo-ka-he'wa) Islands, a group of small 
islands in the South Pacific Ocean, was Captain David Porter, com- 
mander of the Essex in the War of 1812. The Porter referred to as 
"this Porter" was his son, who was prominent in the gunbjat op- 
erations about Vicksburg during the Civil War. 

2. Embrasures. Openings in fortifications through which cannon 
may be fired. 

3. Ravelins {Ta.Y'lmz) . Parts of a fortification forming saw-tooth- 
like projections from the main wall of defense or breastworks at 
the front, and used to protect other fortifications. 

4. Stockades. A line of stout posts or timbers set in the earth 
in contact with each other to form a defensive fortification. 

5. Gamble. The name of an officer in the United States navy. 

6. Madison and the Virginians. President Madison and his 
party did not believe in foreign expansion. The author intimates 
that they should have looked ahead enough to see the need of naval 
stations in the Pacific. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 33 

All that was near fifty years ago. If Nolan was thirty 
then, he must have been near eighty when he died. He 
looked sixty when he was forty. But he never seemed to 
me to change a hair afterwards. As I imagine his life, from 
what I have seen and heard of it, he must have been in 
every sea, and yet almost never on land. He must have 
known, in a formal way, more officers in our service than 
any man living knows. He told me once, with a grave 
smile, that no man in the world lived so methodical a life 
as he. "You know the boys say I am the Iron Mask, and 
you know how busy he was." He said it did not do for 
any one to try to read all the time, more than to do any- 
thing else all the time; but that he read just five hours a 
day. "Then," he said, "I keep up my notebooks, writing 
in them at such and such hours from what I have been 
reading; and I include in these my scrapbooks." These 
were very curious indeed. He had six or eight, of different 
subjects. There was one of history, one of natural science, 
one which he called "Odds and Ends." But they were 
not merely books of extracts from newspapers. They had 
bits of plants and ribbons, shells tied on, and carved scraps 
of bone and wood, which he had taught the men to cut for 
him, and they were beautifully illustrated. He drew 
admirably. He had some of the funniest drawings there, 
and some of the most pathetic, that I have ever seen in 
my life. I wonder who will have Nolan's scrapbooks. 

Well, he said his reading and his notes were his pro- 
fession, and that they took five hours and two hours, 
respectively, of each day. "Then," said he, "every man 
should have a diversion as well as a profession. My natural 
history is my diversion." That took two hours a day 
more. The men used to bring him birds and fish, but on 
a long cruise he had to satisfy himself with centipedes and 
cockroaches and such small game. He was the only 

—3 



34 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

naturalist I ever met who knew anything about the habits 
of the house fly and the mosquito. All those people can 
tell you whether they are Lepidoptera^ or Steptopoiera; 
but as for telling how you can get rid of them, or how they 
get away from you when you strike them, why Linnaeus^ 
knew as little of that as John Foy, the idiot, did. These 
nine hours made Nolan's regular daily "occupation." The 
rest of the time he talked or walked. Till he grew very old 
he went aloft a great deal. He always kept up his exercise ; 
and I never heard that he was ill. If any other man was 
ill, he was the kindest nurse in the world; and he knew 
more than half the surgeons do. Then if anybody was 
sick or died, or if the captain wanted him to on any other 
occasion, he was always ready to read prayers. I have 
said that he read beautifully. 

My own acquaintance with Philip Nolan began six or 
eight years after the war with England, on my first voyage 
after I was appointed a midshipman. It was in the first 
days after our Slave-trade Treaty,^ while the Reigning 
House^ — which was still the House of Virginia — had still 
a sort of sentimentalism about the suppression of the 

1. Lepidoptera (lep'i-dop'ter-a). An order of insects, the chief 
representatives of which are butterflies and moths. There is not in 
zoology such an order as Steptopotera (step-to-p6t'er-a). The name 
is probably used here to add to the impression that the story is told 
by an old sea oflJicer ignorant of such terms. 

2. Linnseus (lin-ne'us). A great Swedish naturalist and botanist 
who founded the system of classification of plants which bears his 
name. 

3. Slave-trade Treaty. One of the clauses of the treaty of Ghent, 
at the close of the War of 1812, provided that England and the 
United States should cooperate in an attempt to wipe out the slave 
trade. Negroes were captured by the slavers in Africa and carried 
on board ship and sold in the United States and the West Indies. 
Spain and Portugal were the chief participants in this trade. 

4. Reigning House. The reader must keep in mind that of the 
first five Presidents of the United States four were from Virginia. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 35 

horrors of the Middle Passage,^ and something was some- 
times done that way. We were in the South Atlantic on 
that business.- From the time I joined, I beheve I thought 
Nolan was a sort of lay chaplain^ — a chaplain with a blue 
coat. I never asked about him. Everything in the ship 
was strange to me. I knew it was green to ask questions, 
and I suppose I thought there was a ''Plain Buttons" on 
every ship. We had him to dine in our mess once a week, 
and the caution was given that on that day nothing was 
to be said about home. But if they had told us not to say 
anything about the planet Mars or the Book of Deuter- 
onomy, I should not have asked why ; there were a great 
many things which seemed to me to have as little reason. 
I first came to understand anything about The Man With- 
out a Country one day when we overhauled a dirty little 
schooner which had slaves on board. An officer was sent 
to take charge of her, and after a few minutes he sent 
back his boat to ask that some one might be sent him who 
could speak Portuguese. We were all looking over the 
rail when the message came, and we all wished we could 
interpret, when the captain asked who spoke Portuguese. 
But none of the officers did; and just as the captain was 
sending forward to ask if any of the people could, Nolan 
stepped out and said he should be glad to interpret, if the 
captain wished, as he understood the language. The 
captain thanked him, fitted out another boat with him, 
and in this boat it was my luck to go. When we got there 
it was such a scene as you seldom see, and never want to. 
Nastiness beyond account, and chaos run loose in the 

1. Middle Passage. The ocean route by which slaves were carried 
from Africa to the West Indies. 

2. On that business. The business of capturing vessels engaged 
in the slave trade, and thus suppressing the slave traffic. 

3. Lay chaplain. One, not a regular minister, who performs the 
offices of chaplain. 



36 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

midst of the nastiness. There were not a great many of 
the negroes ; but by way of making what there were under- 
stand that they were free, Vaughan had had their hand- 
cuffs and ankle-cuffs knocked off, and, for convenience 
sake,^ was putting them upon the rascals of the schooner's 
crew. The negroes were, most of them, out of the hold, 
and swarming all round the dirty deck, with a central 
throng surrounding Vaughan and addressing him in every 
dialect,^ and patois^ of a dialect, from the Zulu^ click up 
to the Parisian of Beledeljereed/ 

As we came on deck, Vaughan looked down from a hogs- 
head, on which he had mounted in desperation, and said : 

"For God's love, is there anybody who can make these 
wretches understand something? The men gave them 
rum, and that did not quiet them. I knocked that big 
fellow down twice, and that did not soothe him. And then 
I talked Choctaw^ to all of them together; and Til be 
hanged if they understood that as well as they understood 
the English." 

Nolan said he could speak Portuguese, and one or two 

1. For convenience sake. A humorous way of telling that the 
slaver's crew had been made prisoners. 

2. Dialect. A form of speech peculiar to a locality or district, 
and different in some ways from that used by other persons who 
speak the same language. 

3. Patois (pa-twa')- A dialect that is not standard; the speech 
of the illiterate portion of a certain region or country. 

4. The Zulu click. The word "click" refers to a sound made by 
certain South African tribes in their speech. 

5. Beledeljereed (bel-e-del'jer-ed'). A region in Northern Africa, 
lying between the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert. The 
inhabitants of this region had a smattering of French and other 
European languages. 

6. Choctaw. The language spoken by the Choctaw Indians. 
Vaughan describes his language in addressing the negroes as Choc- 
taw. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 37 

fine-looking Kroomen^ were dragged out, who, as it had 
been found already, had worked for the Portuguese on the 
coast at Fernando Po.^ 

'^Tell them they are free," said Vaughan; "and tell 
them that these rascals are to be hanged as soon as we can 
get rope enough." 

Nolan ''put that into Spanish" — that is, he explained 
it in such Portuguese as the Kroomen could understand, 
and they in turn to such of the negroes as could understand 
them. Then there was such a yell of delight, clinching of 
fists, leaping and dancing, kissing of Nolan's feet, and a 
general rush made to the hogshead by way of spontaneous 
worship of Vaughan, as the deus ex machina^ of the oc- 
casion. 

''Tell them," said Vaughan, well pleased, "that I will 
take them all to Cape Palmas."^ 

This did not answer so well. Cape Palmas was practi- 
cally as far from the homes of most of them as New Orleans 
or Rio Janeiro was; that is, they would be eternally 
separated from home there. And their interpreters, as 
we could understand, instantly said, "Ah, non Palmas/* 
and began to propose infinite other expedients in most 

1. Kroomen. Members of a tribe of negroes in Liberia, West 
Africa. They were far superior, intellectually and physically, to 
other African tribes. 

2. Fernando Po (fer-nan'do po'). An island near the coast of 
Guinea, in West Africa. It was discovered by the Portuguese, but 
since 1778 it has belonged to the Spanish. 

3. Deus ex machina (da 'us ex makl-na). [Latin.] Meaning 
*'the god from the machine." Ancient classical plays regularly 
introduced a god let down by machinery from above the stage, who 
saved the situation at the critical moment. The expression has 
come to mean the one who saves the situation or rescues the person 
or persons in danger. 

4. Cape Palmas. A cape on the coast of Liberia, distant about 
eleven hundred or twelve hundred miles from the coast of Guinea, 
where these negroes had been captured. 



38 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

voluble language. Vaughan was rather disappointed at 
this result of his liberality, and asked Nolan eagerly what 
they said. The drops stood on poor Nolan's white fore- 
head, as he hushed the men down and said : 

"He says, 'Not Palmas.' He says, 'Take us home, take 
us to our own country, take us to our own house, take us 
to our own pickaninnies and our own women.' He says 
he has an old father and mother, who will die if they do 
not see him. And this one says he left his people all sick, 
and paddled down to Fernando to beg the white doctor to 
come and help them, and that these devils caught him in 
the bay just in sight of home, and that he has never seen 
anybody from home since then. And this one says," 
choked out Nolan, ''that he has not heard a word from his 
home in six months, while he has been locked up in an in- 
fernal barracoon."^ 

Vaughan always said he grew gray himself while Nolan 
struggled through this interpretation. I, who did not 
understand anything of the passion involved in it, saw 
that the very elements were melting in the fervent heat, 
and that something was to pay somewhere. Even the 
negroes themselves stopped howling, as they saw Nolan's 
agony, and Vaughan's almost equal agony of sympathy. 
As quick as he could get words, he said : 

"Tell them yes, yes, yes; tell them they shall go to the 
Mountains of the Moon,^ if they will. If I sail the schooner 
through the Great White Desert^ they shall go home!" 

And after some fashion Nolan said so. And then they 

1. Barracoon (bar-a-koon'). A slave pen or inclosure contain- 
ing sheds in which captured slaves were temporarily kept until 
a full ship load could be obtained. 

2. Mountains of the Moon. A group of lofty mountains in South- 
east Africa. 

3. The Great White Desert. The Sahara Desert. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 39 

all fell to kissing him again, and wanted to rub his nose^ 
with theirs. 

But he could not stand it long; and getting Vaughan 
to say he might go back, he beckoned me down into our 
boat. As we lay back in the stern sheets- and the men 
gave way, he said to me: 

.''Youngster, let that show you what it is to be without 
a family, without a home, and without a country. And 
if you are ever tempted to say a word or to do a thing that 
shall put a bar between you and your family, your home, 
and your country, pray God in His mercy to take you that 
instant home to His own heaven. Stick by your family, 
boy; forget you have a self, while you do everything for 
them. Think of your home, boy ; write and send, and talk 
about it. Let it be nearer and nearer to your thought the 
farther you have to travel from it; and rush back to it 
when you are free, as that poor black slave is doing now. 
And for your country, boy," and the words rattled in his 
throat, "and for that flag," and he pointed to the ship., 
"never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, 
though the service carry you through a thousand hells. 
No matter what happens to you, no matter who flatters 
you or who abuses you, never look at another flag, never 
let a night pass but you pray God to bless that flag. Re- 
member, boy, that behind all these men you have to do 
with, behind officers, and government, and people even, 
there is the Country Herself, your Country, and that you 
belong to Her as you belong to your own mother. Stand 
by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother if those 
devils there had got hold of her to-day!" 

1. Rub his nose. A method of showing friendship or good will, 
common among the members of some African tribes. 

2. Stern sheets. The rear portion of a boat, lying back of the 
thwarts or rowers' seats. 



40 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

I was frightened to death by his calm, hard passion; 
but I blundered out that I would, by all that was holy, and 
that I had never thought of doing anything else. He 
hardly seemed to hear me ; but he did, almost in a whisper, 
say, "0, if anybody had said so to me when I was of your 
age!'' 

I think it was this half -confidence of his, which I never 
abused, for I never told this story till now, which after- 
ward made us great friends. He was very kind to me. 
Often he sat up, or even got up, at night to walk the deck 
with me, when it was my watch. He explained to me a 
great deal of my mathematics, and I owe to him my taste 
for mathematics. He lent me books, and helped me about 
my reading. He never alluded so directly to his story 
again; but from one and another officer I have learned, 
in thirty years, what I am telling. When we parted from 
him in St. Thomas harbor, ^ at the end of our cruise, I was 
more sorry than I can tell. I was very glad to meet him 
again in 1830 ; and later in life, when I thought I had some 
influence in Washington, I moved heaven and earth to 
have him discharged. But it was like getting a ghost out 
of prison. They pretended there was no such man, and 
never was such a man. They will say so at the depart- 
ment now ! Perhaps they do not know. It will not be 
the first thing in the service of which the department ap- 
pears to know nothing ! 

There is a story that Nolan met Burr once on one of our 
vessels, when a party of Americans came on board in the 
Mediterranean. But this I believe to be a lie ; or, rather, 
it is a myth hen trovato,'^ involving a tremendous blowing 

1. St. Thomas harbor. The Island of St. Thomas is one of the 
West Indies east of Porto Rico. It belongs to Denmark. 

2. Ben trovato (ben tro'va-to) . [Italian.] Meaning, "well found." 
It is more often loosely used to mean characteristic or appropriate. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 41 

up with which he sunk Burr/ asking him how he Kked to 
be "without a country/' But it is clear, from Burr's life, 
that nothing of the sort could have happened; and I 
mention this only as an illustration of the stories which 
get agoing where there is the least mystery at bottom. 

So poor Philip Nolan had his wish fulfilled. I know 
but one fate more dreadful ; it is the fate reserved for those 
men who shall have one day to exile themselves from their 
country because they have attempted her ruin, and shall 
have at the same time to see the prosperity and honor to 
which she rises when she has rid herself of them and their 
iniquities. The wish of poor Nolan, as we all learned to 
call him, not because his punishment was too great, but 
because his repentance was so clear, was precisely the 
wish of every Bragg and Beauregard^ who broke a soldier's 
oath two years ago, and of every Maury and Barron^ who 
broke a sailor's. I do not know how often they have 
repented. I do know that they have done all that in them 
lay that they might have no country — that all the honors, 
associations, memories, and hopes which belong to 
"country" might be broken up into little shreds and dis- 
tributed to the winds. I know, too, that their punishment, 
as they vegetate^ through what is left of life to them in 

1. Blowing up with which he sunk Burr. A bitter reproach with 
which Nolan might have humiliated Burr. The image is that of 
one war vessel sinking another. 

2. Bragg and Beauregard. Two generals in the United States 
army, who at the breaking out of the Civil War resigned their 
positions and became generals in the Confederate armies. Both 
served with distinction, and there is no reason to doubt that both 
acted with the highest sense of honor in leaving the Union army. 

3. Maury and Barron. Officers in the United States navy at 
the beginning of the Civil War, who gave up their positions to serve 
in the navy of the Confederacy. 

4. Vegetate. To live in a monotonous, passive way. 



42 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

wretched Boulognes^ and Leicester Squares, ^ where they 
are destined to upbraid each other till they die, will have 
all the agony of Nolan's, with the added pang that every 
one who sees them will see them to despise and to execrate 
them. They will have their wish, like him. 

For him, poor fellow, he repented of his folly, and then, 
like a man, submitted to the fate he had asked for. He 
never intentionally added to the difficulty or delicacy of 
the charge of those who had him in hold. Accidents would 
happen ; but they never happened from his fault. Lieuten- 
ant Truxton^ told me that, when Texas^ was annexed, 
there was a careful discussion among the officers whether 
they should get hold of Nolan's handsome set of maps and 
cut Texas out of it — from the map of the world and the 
map of Mexico. The United States had been cut out when 
the atlas was bought for him. But it was voted, rightly 
enough, that to do this would be virtually to reveal to him 
what had happened, or, as Harry Cole said, to make him 
think Old Burr had succeeded. So it was from no fault of 
Nolan's that a great botch happened at my own table, 
when, for a short time, I was in command of the George 
Washington corvette, on the South American station. We 
were lying in the La Plata, ^ and some of the officers, who 
had been on shore and had just joined again, were enter- 

1. Boulogne (bob-Ion'). A seaport of France on the English Chan- 
nel, and a favorite resort of exiles and adventurers. 

2. Leicester Square (les'ter). A section in the west end of Lon- 
don, inhabited largely by middle-class foreigners, especially for- 
eigners who have renounced their countries. 

3. Lieutenant Truxton. WiUiam Talbot Truxton (1824-1887). 
He became a commodore in the United States navy. 

4. Texas. Texas gained her independence from Mexico in 1836, 
and became a part of the United States by annexation in 1845. 

5. La Plata (la pla'ta). A river in South America flowing south- 
east to the Atlantic. Buenos Ayres (bo'nus a'riz) is situated at its 
mouth. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 43 

taining us with accounts of their misadventures in riding 
the half-wild horses of Buenos Ayres. Nolan was at table, 
and was in an unusually bright and talkative mood. Some 
story of a tumble reminded him of an adventure of his own, 
when he was catching wild horses in Texas with his 
brother Stephen at a time when he must have been quite 
a boy. He told the story with a good deal of spirit — so 
much so that the silence which often follows a good story 
hung over the table for an instant, to be broken by Nolan 
himself. For he asked perfectly unconsciously: 

*' Pray, what has become of Texas? After the Mexicans 
got their independence, I thought that province of Texas 
would come forward very fast. It is really one of the 
finest regions on earth; it is the Italy of this continent. 
But I have not seen or heard a word of Texas for nearly 
twenty years." 

There were two Texan officers at the table. The reason 
he had never heard of Texas was that Texas and her affairs 
had been painfully cut out of his newspapers since Austin^ 
began his settlements ; so that, while he read of Honduras^ 
and Tamaulipas,^ and, till quite lately, of California, this 
virgin province, "^ in which his brother had traveled so far, 
and, I believe, had died, had ceased to be to him. Waters 
and Williams, the two Texas men, looked grimly at each 
other, and tried not to laugh. Edward Morris had his 
attention attracted by the third link in the chain of the 

1. Austin. Moses Austin, a citizen of the United States who 
founded settlements of United States citizens in Texas before that 
country became a part of the United States. The capital of Texas 
is named after him. 

2. Honduras (hon-doo'ras). A country in Central America. It 
revolted from Spain in 1821 and became a member of the Central 
American Union. Since 1839 it has been entirely independent, 

3. Tamaulipas (ta-ma-oo-le'pas). One of the frontier States of 
Mexico bordering on Texas. 

4. This virgin province. Texas. 



44 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

captain's chandelier. Watrous was seized with a con- 
vulsion of sneezing. Nolan himself saw that something 
was to pay; he did not know what. And I, as master of 
the feast, had to say: 

'' Texas is out of the map, Mr. Nolan. Have you seen 
Captain Back's^ curious account of Sir Thomas Roe's 
welcome?"^ 

After that cruise I never saw Nolan again. I wrote to 
him at least twice a year, for in that voyage we became 
even confidentially intimate; but he never wrote to me. 
The other men tell me that in those fifteen years he aged 
very fast, as well he might, indeed, but that he was still 
the same gentle, uncomplaining, silent sufferer that he 
ever was, bearing as best he could his self-appointed 
punishment — rather less social, perhaps, with new men 
whom he did not know, but more anxious, apparently, 
than ever to serve and befriend and teach the boys, some 
of whom fairly seemed to worship him. And now it seems 
the dear old fellow is dead. He has found a home at last, 
and a country. 

Since writing this, and while considering whether or no 
I would print it, as a warning to the young Nolans and 
Vallandighams and Tatnalls^ of to-day of what it is to 

1. Captain Back. An admiral in the British navy and a famous 
English explorer. 

2. Sir Thomas Roe's welcome. Sir Thomas Roe was a famous 
English ambassador and voyager. The reference here is perhaps to 
his triumphant entry into London upon his return from Sweden 
and Poland. 

3. Vallandighams and Tatnalls. Clement L. Vallandigham was 
a congressman from Ohio during the early part of the Civil War. 
He attacked the national administration so bitterly in 1863 that 
he was tried by court-martial and sentenced to imprisonment. His 
sentence was commuted, and he was sent to Confederate territory. 
He was allowed to return to the Northern States in 1864. Josiah 
Tatnall was a United States naval officer who left the service at the 
beginning of the Civil War to enter the Confederate navy. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 45 

throw away a country, I have received from Danforth, 
who is on board the Levant, a letter which gives an account 
of Nolan's last hours. It removes all my doubts about 
telling this story. 

To understand the first words of the letter, the non- 
professional reader^ should remember that after 1817 the 
position of every officer who had Nolan in charge was one 
of the greatest delicacj^ The Government had failed to 
renew the order of 1807 regarding him. What was a man 
to do? Should he let him go? What, then, if he were 
called to account by the department for violating the 
order of 1807? Should he keep him? What, then, if 
Nolan should be liberated some day, and should bring an 
action for false imprisonment or kidnapping against every 
man who had had him in charge? I urged and pressed this 
upon Southard, and I have reason to think that other 
officers did the same thing. But the Secretary always 
said, as they so often do at Washington, that there were 
no special orders to give, and that we must act on our own 
judgment. That means, "If you succeed, you will be 
sustained; if you fail, you will be disavowed. '* Well, as 
Danforth says, all that is over now, though I do not know 
but I expose myself ^ to a criminal prosecution on the 
evidence of the very revelation I am making. 

Here is the letter: 

Levant, 2«' 2' S. af 131^ W. 

Dear Fred — I try to find heart and life to tell you that it is all 

over with dear old Nolan. I have been with him on this voyage 

more than I ever was, and I can understand wholly now the way 

in which you used to speak of the dear old fellow. I could see that 

1. Non-professional reader. A reader not acquainted with the 
administration of naval affairs. 

2. / expose myself. In case of criminal prosecution for the wrong- 
ful detention of Nolan, the writer, because of his knowledge of 
Nolan's detention, would be an accessory to the crime. 



46 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

he was not strong, but I had no idea the end was so near. The 
doctor has been watching him very carefully, and yesterday morn- 
ing came to me and told me that Nolan was not so well, and had 
not left his stateroom — a thing I never remember before. He had 
let the doctor come and see him as he lay there — the first time the 
doctor had been in the stateroom — and he said he should like to see 
me. Oh, dear! do you remember the mysteries we boys used to 
invent about his room in the old Intrepid days? Well, I went in, 
and there, to be sure, the poor fellow lay in his berth, smiling 
pleasantly as he gave me his hand, but looking very frail. I could 
not help a glance round, which showed me what a little shrine he 
had made of the box he was lying in. The stars and stripes were 
triced^ up above and around a picture of Washington, and he had 
painted a majestic eagle, with lightnings blazing from his beak and 
his foot just clasping the whole globe, which his wings overshadowed. 
The dear old boy saw my glance, and said, with a sad smile, "Here, 
you see, I have a country !" And then he pointed to the foot of his 
bed, where I had not seen before a great map of the United States, 
as he had drawn it from memory, and which he had there to look 
upon as he lay. Quaint, queer old names were on it, in large letters : 
"Indiana Territory," "Mississippi Territory," and "Louisiana 
Territory," 2 as I suppose our fathers learned such things; but the 
old fellow had patched in Texas, too; he had carried his western 
boundary all the way to the Pacific, but on that shore he had defined 
nothing. 

" Danforth," he said, "I know I am dying. I can not get home. 
Surely you will tell me something now? — Stop ! stop ! Do not speak 
till I say what I am sure you know, that there is not in this ship, 
that there is not in America — God bless her! — a more loyal man 
than I. There can not be a man who loves the old flag as I do, or 
prays for it as I do, or hopes for it as I do. There are thirty-four 
stars in it now, Danforth. I thank God for that, though I do not 
know what their names are. There has never been one taken away ; 
I thank God for that. I know by that, that there has never been 
any successful Burr. O Danforth, Danforth," he sighed out, 
"how like a wretched night's dream a boy's idea of personal fame 

1. Triced. Fastened up with a small rope. 

2. Indiana Territory, : . . Louisiana Territory. These 
names were applied to vast areas of territory in what is now the 
Middle West. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 47 

or of separate sovereignty seems, when one looks back on it after 
such a life as mine! But tell me — tell me something — tell me 
everything, Danforth, before I die!" 

Ingham, I swear to you that I felt like a monster that I had not 
told him everything before. Danger or no danger, delicacy or no 
delicacy, who was I, that I should have been acting the tyrant all 
this time over this dear, sainted old man, who had years ago ex- 
piated,^ in his whole manhood's life, the madness of a boy's treason? 
"Mr. Nolan," said I, "I will tell you everything you ask about. 
Only, where shall I begin?" 

Oh, the blessed smile that crept over his white face! and he 
pressed my hand and said, "God bless you! Tell me their names," 
he said, and he pointed to the stars on the flag. "The last I know 
is Ohio. My father lived in Kentucky. But I have guessed 
Michigan and Indiana and Mississippi — that was where Fort 
Adams is — they make twenty. But where are your other fourteen? 
You have not cut up any of the old ones, I hope?" 

Well, that was not a bad text, and I told him the names, in as 
good order as I could, and he bade me take down his beautiful map 
and draw them in as I best could with my pencil. He was wild 
with delight about Texas, told me how his brother died there; he 
had marked a gold cross near where he supposed his brother's 
grave was; and he had guessed at Texas. Then he was delighted 
as he saw California and Oregon^ — that, he said, he had suspected 
partly, because he had never been permitted to land on that shore, 
though the ships were there so much. "And the men," said he, 
laughing, "brought off a great deal besides furs." ^ Then he went 
back — heavens, how far! — to ask about the Chesapeake,^ and what 

1. Expiated. Atoned for. 

2. Ohio, . . . Oregon. Ohio was admitted into the Union in 1803; 
Kentucky, in 1792; Michigan, in 1837; Indiana, in 1816; Mississippi, 
in 1817; California, in 1850; Oregon, in 1859. These events show 
the lapse of time and the development of the country during Nolan's 
imprisonment. 

3. Brought off a good deal besides furs. The sailors often returned 
to the ships in a drunken condition. 

4. Chesapeake. In 1807 the American frigate Chesapeake, under 
command of Captain Barron, was hailed by the British ship Leopard, 
whose commander demanded the right of searching the American 
vessel for deserters from the British navy. The Chesapeake was un- 
prepared for action and submitted to the search. Barron was blamed 
and suspended from service. Later he was reinstated and rose to 
the rank of Commodore. 



48 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

was done to Barron for surrendering her to the Leopard, and whether 
Burr ever tried again — and he ground his teeth with the only- 
passion he showed. But in a moment that was over, and he said, 
"God forgive me, for I am sure I forgive him." Then he asked 
about the old war; told me the true story of his serving the gun 
the day we took the Java;^ asked about dear old David Porter, as 
he called him. Then he settled down more quietly, and very 
happily, to hear me tell in an hour the history of fifty years. 

How I wished it had been somebody who knew something! 
But I did as well as I could. I told him of the English war. I told 
him about Fulton^ and the steamboat beginning. I told him about 
old Scott^ and Jackson;* told him all I could think of about the 
Mississippi, and New Orleans, and Texas, and his own old Ken- 
tucky. = And do you think, he asked, who was in command of the 
"Legion of the West." I told him it was a very gallant officer 
named Grant, and that, by our last news, he was about to establish 
his headquarters at Vicksburg.^ Then, "Where was Vicksburg?" 
I worked that out on the map ; it was about a hundred miles, more 
or less, above his old Fort Adams; and I thought Fort Adams 

1. Java. The United States ship Constitution captured the 
British ship Java off the coast of Brazil in December, 1812. Nolan's 
part in serving the gun has been told in the story. 

2. Fulton. Robert Fulton (1765-1815) was the inventor of the 
steamboat. 

3. Scott. General Winfield Scott commanded troops in the War 
of 1812 and captured the City of Mexico in the Mexican War. He 
was commander-in-chief of the Federal army at the beginning of 
the Civil War, but retired from service because of age. 

4. Andrew Jackson. General Andrew Jackson, during the War 
of 1812, won a brilliant victory over the British at New Orleans. 
He was President of the United States from 1829-1837. 

5. The Mississippi, . . . and his own old Kentucky. The 
Mississippi River had, during the time of the story, become an im- 
portant commercial route. New Orleans had experienced a mar- 
velous growth about 1820. Texas had become independent of 
Mexico in 1836 and was admitted to the Union in 1845. • Kentucky 
had grown wonderfully in population and wealth. All of these were 
places with which Nolan had been intimately connected in early 
life, hence they were of especial interest to him. 

6. Vickshurp. Vicksburg was the most strongly fortified posi- 
tion on the Mississippi River during the Civil War. It was captured 
from the Confederates by General U. S. Grant a few months before 
the publication of this story. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 49 

must be a ruin now. "It must be at old Vick's plantation," said 
he. "Well, that is a change!" 

I tell you, Ingham, it was a hard thing to condense the history 
of half a century into that talk with a sick man. And I do not now 
know what I told him — of emigration, and the means of it; of 
steamboats, and railroads, and telegraphs; of inventions, and books, 
and literature ; of the colleges and West Point and the Naval School 
— but with the queerest interruptions that ever you heard. You 
see it was Robinson Crusoe^ asking all the accumulated questions 
of fifty-six years ! 

I remember he asked, all of a sudden, who was President now; 
and when I told him he asked if Old Abe was General Benjamin 
Lincoln's^ son. He said he met old General Lincoln, when he was 
quite a boy himself, at some Indian treaty. I said no; that Old 
Abe was a Kentuckian like himself, but I could not tell him of 
what family; he had worked up from the ranks. "Good for him!" 
cried Nolan; "I am glad of that. As I have brooded and wondered, 
I have thought our danger was in keeping up those regular suc- 
cessions in the first families." Then I got to talking about my visit 
to Washington. I told him of meeting the Oregon Congressman, 
Harding ;3 I told him about the Smithsonian* and the Exploring 
Expedition; I told him about the Capitol, ^ and the statues for the 
pediment, and Crawford's Liberty,^ and Greenough's Washington.^ 
Ingham, I told him everything I could think of that would show 

1. Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe, the hero of Daniel Defoe's 
famous story, spent twenty-seven years on an uninhabited island. 
The fifty-six years referred to were the years of Nolan's captivity. 

2. General Benjamin Lincoln. (1733-1810.) A soldier in the 
Revolutionary War, and Secretary of War from 1781 to 1784. 

3. Congressman Harding. Benjamin F. Harding (1823-1899) 
was United States Senator from Oregon from 1862 to 1865. 

4. Smithsonian. The Smithsonian Institution, established in 
1846, is a government institution for scientific research, and has 
sent "exploring expeditions" into various parts of the world. 

5. The Capitol. The Capitol at Washington was burned by the 
British in 1814. The present Capitol is much larger and finer than 
was the old one. 

6. Crawford's Liberty. A bronze statue of Liberty surmounting 
the dome of the Capitol, made by Thomas Crawford. 

7. Greenough's Washington. A colossal statue of Washington, 
the work of Horatio Greenough, completed in 1843, stands in front 
of the Capitol. 

—4 



50 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

the grandeur of his country and its prosperity; but I could not 
make up my mouth to tell him a word about this infernal Rebellion ! ^ 

And he drank it in, and enjoyed it as I can not tell you. He 
grew more and more silent, yet I never thought he was tired or 
faint. I gave him a glass of water, but he just wet his lips, and told 
me not to go away. Then he asked me to bring the Presbyterian 
"Book of Public Prayer," which lay there, and said, with a smile, 
that it would open at the right place, and so it did. There was his 
double red mark down the page ; and I knelt down and read, and 
he repeated with me, "For ourselves and our country, gracious 
God, we thank Thee, that notwithstanding our manifold trans- 
gressions of Thy holy laws. Thou has continued to us Thy mar- 
velous kindness" — and so to the end of that thanksgiving. Then 
he turned to the end of the same book, and I read the words more 
familiar to me: "Most heartily we beseech Thee with Thy favor to 
behold and bless Thy servant, the President of the United States, 
and all others in authority," and the rest of the Episcopal collect. ^ 
"Danforth," said he, "I have repeated those prayers night and 
morning, it is now fifty-five years." And then he said he would 
go to sleep. He bent me down over him and kissed me; and he 
said, "Look in my Bible, Danforth, when I am gone." And I went 
away. 

But I had no thought it was the end. I thought he was tired 
and would sleep. I knew he was happy, and I wanted him to be 
alone. 

But in an hour, when the doctor went in gently, he found Nolan 
had breathed his life away with a smile. He had something pressed 
close to his lips. It was his father's badge of the Order of Cin- 
cinnati.^ 

We looked in his Bible, and there was a slip of paper at the place 
where he had marked the text: 

1. Rebellion. The Ci\al War. . 

2. Episcopal collect (korekt). A collect is a short prayer. The 
prayer referred to here is one for the President of the United States 
and others in authority. It forms a part of the regular Episcopal 
service. 

3. Order of Cincinnati. A society founded in 1783, taking its 
name from Cincinnatus, the Roman dictator, who gave up his power 
in order to resume his farming, which he dearly loved. Only officers 
of the Continental army were eligible to membership in this society. 
Nolan's father could possess this badge only as a patriot who had 
fought for his country. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 51 

"They desire a country, even a heavenly: wherefore God is not 
ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a 
city." 

On this slip of paper he had written : 

"Bury me in the sea; it has been my home, and I love it. But 
will not some one set up a stone for my memory at Fort Adams or 
at Orleans, that my disgrace may not be more than I ought to bear? 
Say on it : 

"In Memory of 

PHILIP NOLAN, 

Lieutenant of the Army of the United States. 

He loved his country as no other man has loved her; 

but no man deserved less at her hands." 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: casual, archives, ignored, 
stilted, unrequited, Bourbon, euchre, catastrophe, provincial, mo- 
notony, spectacle, court-martials, frenzy, cavalierly, plantation, 
tutor, swagger, substantially, traditional, quarters, rations, custody, 
marines, insignia, allusion, alluded, windfall, chivalry, canto, af- 
fected, contretemps, libel, quarter-deck, ceremony, ignore, battery, 
diversion, sentiment alism, chaplain, schooner, chaos, spontaneous, 
elements, fervent, iniquities, vegetate, upbraid, extricate, delicacy, 
disavowed, shrine, expiated, manifold. 

2. What suggested this story to the author? 

3. Who is supposed to be the narrator of the story? 

4. What reason does the narrator give for telling the story of 
Philip Nolan? 

5. Explain fully the reasons for not telling the story before 
Nolan's death. 

6. What characteristics possessed by Aaron Burr would appeal 
strongly to a young military officer of spirit? 

7. When did Nolan become "A Man Without a Country"? 

8. What in Nolan's early training and surroundings made him 
readily susceptible to Burr's influence? 

9. Does this excuse Nolan for his conduct? 

10. What reasons had Nolan for being disloyal to his country? 

11. What reasons had he for remaining loyal? 

12. What prompted Nolan to wish that he might never hear of 
the United States again? 



52 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

13. Was Nolan's sentence a just one? Give reasons for your 
answer. 

14. Did Nolan understand the severity of the sentence when it 
was pronounced? Did the court? 

15. Explain fully the plan for carrying the sentence into effect. 

16. What shows Nolan's attitude toward his sentence at first? 

17. What are the first evidences of a change in his attitude? 

18. Did Nolan ever make an attempt to evade his sentence? 

19. What characteristics of Nolan are revealed in the incident 
of his serving the gun on board the Constitution? 

20. What was his attitude toward his country at that time? 

21. What did the commander mean by saying to Nolan, "You 
are one of us to-day"? 

22. Did Nolan feel at other times that he was one of them? 

23. Why did he treasure the sword so highly? 

24. What did Nolan do on shipboard during his detention? 

25. What traits of character are revealed by these occupations? 

26. Why did the incidents on board the slave ship, more than 
any other related, stir Nolan? 

27. What did the boy who accompanied Nolan to the slave ship 
mean when he said that he "saw that the very elements were melt- 
ing in the fervent heat," and "that something was to pay"? 

28. Commit to memory: "And for your country, boy, . . . 
stand by her as you would stand by your mother if those devils 
there had got hold of her to-day." 

29. Explain Nolan's interest in the boys and young men on the 
vessels on which he was detained. 

30. What evidences of Nolan's patriotism are revealed by the 
description of the interior of his stateroom? 

31. In what sense was his stateroom his country? 

32. Find in the story as many evidences as you can of Nolan's 
patriotism. 

33. What evidences do you get from the story that love of 
country and love of home are closely related? 

34. What evidences do you get from the story that patriotism, 
or love of country, is a universal feeling? 

35. Describe Nolan as he was before he renounced his country. 

36. Describe him as he was during the last years of his life. 

37. In what way did Nolan "love his country as no other man 
has loved her"? 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 53 

A CHRISTMAS CAROL 

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was born at Landport, England. 
He spent most of his boyhood at Chatham, in Kent County, which 
in later life he regarded as his childhood home. His mother taught 
him to read, and he attended school until he was nine years old. His 
father, who held a government clerkship, at eighty pounds ($400) 
a year, was imprisoned for debt, and Charles was put out to make 
a living for himself. He found work in a blacking warehouse where 
he pasted labels on blacking bottles. Here he was associated 
closely with two boys older than himself, who led lives of petty 
thievery and gambling. 

In 1826 Dickens' father fell heir to a small legacy and was re- 
leased from prison. Charles then spent two years in an academy. 
Afterward, for a year and a half, he was an apprentice in a lawyer's 
office, where he studied law and mastered shorthand. He next be- 
came a newspaper reporter, and in 1831 he was appointed parlia- 
mentary reporter for one of the leading London papers. Dickens' 
experiences in the blacking warehouse and as a newspaper reporter 
acquainted him with the abuses common at that time in the admin- 
istration of the poor laws. Later, in his novels, he subjected these 
abuses and the abuses in the English schools to such ridicule that 
measures for their correction were begun and carried out. 

In 1842 Dickens, with his wife, made a trip to America, where 
his writings were quite as popular as they were at home. On his 
return he wrote "American Notes." A little later he published 
what is perhaps his most popular novel, "David Copperfield." 
He made a tour of America in 1857 and 1858, giving readings from 
his own works. One of his readings especially popular with the 
American people was "A Christmas Carol." This selection was 
originally much longer. It is here given as it was abridged by the 
author to serve as a reading. 

In "A Christmas Carol," Dickens shows the transforming power 
of good will. So full of the Christmas spirit is this story, and so 
skillfully does the author inject this spirit at just the right moment 
that he transforms what would otherwise be a gruesome tale into a 
carol brimful of the joy and good cheer of Christmas. What be- 
came of Scrooge, the "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, 
clutching, covetous old sinner," Scrooge, the "orge" of the feast, is 
here told in Dickens* most charming manner. 



54 classics for the eighth grade 

Stave One^ 

marley's ghost 

Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt 
whatever about that. The register^ of his burial was signed 
by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief 
mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was 
good upon 'Change^ for anything he chose to put his 
hand to. 

Old Marley was as dead as a doornail. 

Mind ! I don 't mean to say that I know, of my own 
knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door- 
nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a 
coffin nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery"^ in the trade. 
But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile ; ° and my 
unhallowed^ hands shall not disturb it, or the country 's 
done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, em- 
phatically, that Marley was as dead as a doornail. 

Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How 
could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I 
don't know how many years. Scrooge was his sole 
executor,^ his sole administrator,^ his sole assign,^ his sole 

1. Stave One. A stave is a division of a psalm or song. By 
dividing his story into staves the author carries out the idea of its 
being a carol, or Christmas song. 

2. Register. Record. 

3. 'Change. Exchange; the place where the merchants, bank- 
ers, and brokers of a city meet to balance accounts and to transact 
business. The sentence means that Scrooge's credit was good 
among business men. 

4. Ironmongery. A general name for all articles made of iron. 
Hardware. 

5. Simile. Comparison. 

6. Unhallowed. Not consecrated; unholy. 

7. Executor (eg-zek'u-ter). A person appointed to carry out the 
provisions of a will. 

8. Administrator. A person who is legally given the right to 
manage or dispose of an estate. 

9. Assign. The person to whom property or other interests are 
transferred. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 55 

residuary legatee/ his sole friend and sole mourner. And 
even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event 
but that he was an excellent man of business on the very 
day of the funeral, and solemnized^ it with an imdoubted 
bargain. 

The mention of Marley's funeral brings me back to the 
point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was 
dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing won- 
derful can come of the story I am going to relate. If we 
were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's father^ died 
before the play began, there would be nothing more re- 
markable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly 
wind, upon his own ramparts,"* than there would be in any 
other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after 
dark in a breezy spot — say Saint Paul's^ churchyard, for 
instance — literally to astonish his son's weak mind. 

Scrooge never painted out old Marley's name. There 
it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse^ door: 
Scrooge and Marley. The firm was known as Scrooge and 
Marley. Sometimes people new to the business called 
Scrooge Scrooge, and sometimes Marley, but he answered 
to both names. It was all the same to him. 

Oh ! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone,' 
Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, 
clutching, covetous old sinner ! Hard and sharp as flint 

1. Residuary legatee (re-zid'u-a-ri leg'a-te')- The person to whom 
the remainder of a property is willed after certain specific gifts from 
it have been made. 

2. Solemnized. Dignified or honored with ceremonies. 

3. HamleVs father. In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the ghost of 
Hamlet's father appears on the ramparts of the royal castle. 

4. Ramparts (ram'partz). Protecting wall around the castle. 

5. St. Paul's. St. Paul's Cathedral in London is the largest 
cathedral in England and one of the largest in the world. 

6. Warehouse. A wholesale store. 

7. Tight-fisted hand at the grindstone. Very close in business deals. 



56 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire;^ 
secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.^ The 
cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed 
nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait ; made his eyes 
red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly^ in his 
grating voice. A frosty rime^ was on his head, and on his 
eyebrows, and his wiry chin.^ He carried his ov/n low tem- 
perature always about with him; he iced his office in the 
dog days ; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas. 

External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. 
No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No 
wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was 
more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to 
entreaty. Foul weather didn't know where to have him.® 
The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet could 
boast of advantage over him in only one respect. They 
often "came down" handsomely,^ and Scrooge never did. 

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with glad- 
some looks, "My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will 
you come to see me? " No beggars implored him to bestow 
a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man 
or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to 
such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men's 
dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him 
coming on would tug their owners into doorways and up 

1. Struck out generous fire. Before matches were invented fire 
was started, from the spark made by striking flint and steel together. 

2. Solitary ds an oyster. With little desire for companionship. 

3. Shrewdly. Sharply, or harshly. 

4. Rime. Dew or vapor congealed into a white frost. The 
author likens Scrooge's white hair, eyebrows and beard to hoarfrost. 

5. Wiry chin. Thin chin. 

6. Foul weather didn't know where to have him. Foul weather 
could produce no effect on him. 

7. "Came down" handsomely. Scrooge never gave freely to 
charity. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 57 

courts, 1 and then would wag their tails as though they 
said, ''No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark 
master !"2 

But what did Scrooge care? It was the very thing he 
liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, 
warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was 
what the knowing ones call "nuts"^ to Scrooge. 

Once upon a time — of all the good days in the year, on 
Christmas Eve — old Scrooge sat busy in his counting- 
house.'' It was cold, bleak, biting weather, foggy withal, 
and he could hear the people in the court outside go wheez- 
ing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, 
and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm 
them. The city clocks had only just gone^ three, but it was 
quite dark already — it had not been Hght all day — and 
candles were flaring in the windows of the neighboring 
offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air.^ 
The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, 
and was so dense without that, although the court was of 
the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. 
To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring 
everything, one might have thought that Nature lived 
hard by, and was brewing^ on a large scale. 

The door of Scrooge's counting-house was open, that 

1. Courts. Open spaces enclosed by buildings. Short streets 
are sometimes called courts. 

2. Dark master. Blind master. 

^ 3. What the knowing ones called "nuts.'' Those best acquainted 
with Scrooge knew he liked best to be unsympathetic. 

4. Counting-house. Business office. 

5. Gone. Struck. 

6. Palpable brown air. The air was so thick with fog, dust par- 
ticles, and other impurities that it could be felt. 

7. Brewing. Making ale or beer by boiling and fermenting malt 
with hops or other ingredients. The fog the author describes was 
like the steam which rises from the vats and caldrons of a brewery. 



58 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who, in a dismal little 
cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge 
had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much 
smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn't 
replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal box in his own room ; 
and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the 
master predicted that it would be necessary for them to 
part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter,^ and 
tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not 
being a man of a strong imagination, he failed. 

"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a 
cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who 
came upon him so quickly that this was the first intima- 
tion^ he had of his approach. 

" Bah ! " said Scrooge. '' Humbug ! " 

He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the 
fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in 
a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes 
sparkled, and his breath smoked again. 

''Christmas a humbug, uncle!" said Scrooge's nephew. 
''You don't mean that, I am sure?" 

"I do," said Scrooge. "Merry Christmas! What right 
have you to be merry? What reason have you to be 
merry? You 're poor enough." 

"Come, then," returned the nephew gayly. "What 
right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to 
be morose?^ You're rich enough." 

Scrooge, having no better answer ready on the spur of 
the moment, said "Bah!" again; and followed it up with 
"Humbug!" 

"Don't be cross, uncle!" said the nephew. 

1. Comforter. A scarf worn about the neck in cold weather. 

2. Intimation. Hint or suggestion. 

3. Morose (mo-ros'). Of a sour temper. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 59 

"What else can I be," returned the uncle, "when I live 
in such a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! Out 
upon merry Christmas! What's Christmas time to you 
but a time for paying bills without money; a time for 
finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer; a 
time for balancing your books, and having every item in 
'em through a round dozen of months presented dead 
against you?^ If I could work my will," said Scrooge 
indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry 
Christmas ' on his lips should be boiled with his own pud- 
ding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. 
He should!" 

"Uncle!" pleaded the nephew. 

"Nephew!" returned the uncle sternly, "keep Christ- 
mas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine." 

" Keep it ! " repeated Scrooge's nephew." But you don't 
keep it." 

"Let me leave it alone, then," said Scrooge. "Much 
good may it do you ! Much good it has ever done you ! " 

"There are many things from which I might have de- 
rived good by which I have not profited, I dare say," 
returned the nephew, "Christmas among the rest. But 
I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when 
it has come round — apart from the veneration^ due to its 
sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can 
be apart from that — as a good time; a kind, forgiving, 
charitable, pleasant time ; the only time I know of, in the 
long calendar of the year, ^ when men and women seem by 
one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to 
think of people below them as if they really were fellow- 
passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures 

1. Presented dead against you. Showing a loss. 

2. Veneration. Reverence. 

3. In the long calendar of the year. During the whole year. 



60 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though 
it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, 
I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good ; 
and I say, God bless it!" 

The clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded. Becom- 
ing immediately sensible of the impropriety,^ he poked the 
fire, and extinguished the last frail spark forever. 

"Let me hear another sound from you/' said Scrooge, 
*'and you '11 keep your Christmas by losing your situation ! 
You 're quite a powerful speaker, sir," he added, turning 
to his nephew. " I wonder you don't go into Parliament." ^ 

''Don't be angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us to- 
morrow." 

Scrooge said that he would see him . Yes, indeed, 

he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and 
said that he would see him in that extremity^ first. 

''But why?" cried Scrooge's nephew. "Why?" 

"Why did you get married?" said Scrooge. 

" Because I fell in love." 

"Because you fell in love!" growled Scrooge, as if that 
were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than 
a merry Christmas. " Good afternoon ! " 

"Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that 
happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?" 

" Good afternoon," said Scrooge. 

"I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why 
can not we be friends?" 

"Good afternoon!" said Scrooge. 

" I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. 

1. Sensible of the impropriety. Aware that he had over-expressed 
his enthusiasm for Christinas. 

2. Parliament. The law-making body of Great Britain. 

3. In that extremity. A humorous reference to the expression in- 
dicated by the dashes. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 61 

We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a 
party. But I have made the trial in homage to^ Christ- 
mas, and I '11 keep my Christmas humor ^ to the last. So 
a merry Christmas, uncle!" 

"Good afternoon,'' said Scrooge. 

''And a happy New Year!" 

''Good afternoon!" said Scrooge. 

His nephew left the room without an angry word, not- 
withstanding. He stopped at the outer door to bestow 
the greetings of the season on the clerk, who, cold as he 
was, was warmer than Scrooge, for he returned them cor- 
dially. 

"There 's another fellow," muttered Scrooge, who over- 
heard him; "my clerk, with fifteen shillings a week, and 
a wife and family, talking about a merry Christmas. I '11 
retire to Bedlam."* 

This lunatic, in letting Scrooge's nephew out, had let 
two other people in. They were portly^ gentlemen, pleasant 
to behold, and now stood, with their hats off, in Scrooge's 
office. They had books and papers in their hands, and 
bowed to him. 

"Scrooge and Marley's, I believe," said one of the gen- 
tlemen, referring to his list. "Have I the pleasure of 
addressing Mr. Scrooge, cr Mr. Marley?" 

"Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years," Scrooge 
replied. "He died seven years ago, this very night." 

"We have no doubt his liberality is well represented 

1. In homage to. Out of respect to. 

2. Christmas humor. Spirit of Christmas. 

3. Bedlam. The common name for Bethlehem Hospital, a luna- 
tic asylum in London. "Bedlam "came to mean any madhouse, and 
later any great disturbance or confusion. 

4. Portly. Having an imposing appearance; stout. 



62 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

by his surviving partner," said the gentleman, presenting 
his credentials.^ 

It certainly was ; for they had been two kindred spirits. 
At the ominous word '* liberality "^ Scrooge frowned, and 
shook his head, and handed the credentials back. 

"At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said 
the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually 
desirable that we should make some slight provision for 
the poor and destitute,^ who suffer greatly at the present 
time. Many thousands are in want of common neces- 
saries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common 
comforts, sir." 

"Are there no prisons?" asked Scrooge. 

"Plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down 
the pen again. 

"And the Union workhouses?"* demanded Scrooge. 
"Are they still in operation?" 

"They are. Still," returned the gentleman, "I wish I 
could say they were not." 

"The treadmilP and the Poor Law® are in full vigor, 
then?" said Scrooge. 

"Both very busy, sir." 

"Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that 
something had occurred to stop them in their useful 
course," said Scrooge. "I 'm very glad to hear it." 

1. Credentials. Letters or testimonials showing that a person is 
authorized to exercise certain powers. 

2. Ominous word "liberality.'' Scrooge dreaded the word "lib- 
erality" because it suggested parting with money. 

3. Destitute. Those in need. 

4. Union workhouses. Places not unlike jails, in which persons 
without employment were confined at hard labor and fed. 

5. The treadmill. Vagrants and others without means of support 
were put to work at the treadmills as petty criminals are forced to 
work on rock-piles to-day. 

6. Poor Law. Scrooge probably refers to the body of Poor Laws 
passed by the Reformed Parliament in 1834. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 63 

" Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Chris- 
tian cheer of mind or body to the multitude," returned 
the gentleman, "sl few of us are endeavoring to raise a 
fund to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means 
of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, 
of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundan(^.e 
rejoices. What shall I put you down for?" 

''Nothing!" Scrooge replied. 

''You wish to be anonymous?"^ 

" I wish to be left alone," said Scrooge. " Since you ask 
me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't 
make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to 
make idle people merry. I help to support the establish- 
m.ents I have mentioned; they cost enough, and those 
who are badly off must go there." 

"Many can't go there; and many would rather die." 

"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had 
better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides, 
■ — excuse me — I don't know that."^ 

"But you might know it," observed the gentleman. 

" It 's not my business," Scrooge returned. "It 's enough 
for a man to understand his own business, and not to 
interfere with other people's. Mine occupies me con- 
stantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!" 

Seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their 
point, the gentlemen v/ithdrew. Scrooge resumed his 
labors with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more 
facetious'^ temper than was usual with him. 

Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so that 

1. Anonymous. The gentleman wished to know if Scrooge wanted 
to make a gift without having his name made known. 

2. / don't know that. Scrooge implies that his ignorance of the 
condition of the poor relieves him from responsibility in caring for 
them. 

3. Facetious. Agreeable; pleasant. 



64 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

people ran about with flaring links/ proffering^ their 
services to go before horses in carriages, and conduct them 
on their way. The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff 
old bell V7as always peeping slyly down at Scrooge out of 
a Gothic^ window in the wall, became invisible, and struck 
the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous 
vibrations^ afterwards, as if its teeth were chattering in its 
frozen head up there. The cold became intense. In the 
main street, at the corner of the court, some laborers were 
repairing the gas pipes, and had lighted a great fire in a 
brazier,^ round which a party of ragged men and boys 
were gathered, warming their hands and winking their 
eyes before the blaze, in rapture. The water plug^ being 
left in solitude, its overflowings suddenly congealed,^ and 
turned to misanthropic ice.^ The brightness of the shops, 
where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat 
of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as they passed. 
Poulterers' and grocers' trades became a splendid joke; 
a glorious pageant,^ with which it was next to impossible 
to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had 
anything to do. The Lord Mayor, ^^ in the stronghold of 
the mighty Mansion House, ^^ gave orders to his fifty cooks 

1. Links. Torches. 

2. Proffering. Offering. 

3. Gothic. A style of architecture in which the windows are 
pointed at the top. 

4. Vibrations. Sound vibrations. 

5. Brazier (bra'zher). A pan for holding burning coals. 

6. Water plug. A tap in a water main, a hydrant. 

7. Congealed. Froze. 

8. Misanthropic ice. Misanthropic means hating or disliking 
mankind. Because of its hardness and chill, ice is spoken of as 
"misanthropic." 

9. Pageant (paj'ent). An elaborate spectacle or show, often 
involving a parade, devised for the entertainment of the public. 

10. Lord Mayor. The chief magistrate or ruler of London. 

11. Mansion House. The official residence of the Lord Mayor. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 65 

and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayor's house- 
hold should ; and even the little tailor, whom he had fined 
five shillings on the previous Monday for being drunk 
and bloodthirsty in the streets, stirred up to-morrow's 
pudding in his garret, while his lean wife and the baby 
sallied out to buy the beef. 

Foggier yet, and colder! Piercing, searching, biting 
cold. If the good Saint Dunstan^ had but nipped the 
Evil Spirit's nose with a touch of such weather as that, 
instead of using his familiar weapons, then, indeed, he 
would have roared to lusty purpose. The owner of one 
scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry 
cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at 
Scrooge's keyhole to regale^ him with a Christmas carol; 
but at the first sound of 

God bless you, merry gentleman, 
May nothing you dismay, 

Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that 
the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog 
and even more congeniaP frost. 

At length the hour of shutting up the counting-house 
arrived. With an ill will Scrooge dismounted from his 
stool, and tacitly* admitted the fact to the expectant clerk 
in the tank, who instantly snuffed his candle out, and put 
on his hat. 

''You'll want all day to-morrow, I suppose?" said 
Scrooge. 

1. Saint Dunstan. An English monk who was a famous worker 
in metals. There is a story that once, when he was at work at his 
forge, the devil came to tempt him. The saint seized his red-hot 
tongs and nipped the tempter's nose with them, causing the devil 
to roar with pain. 

2. Regale. To entertain. 

3. Congenial. Kindred or sympathetic. Scrooge had a warmer 
welcome for fog and frost than he had for the Christmas song. 

4. Tacitly (tas'it-li). Without words; without speaking. 

—5 



66 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

"If quite convenient, sir." 

"It's not convenient," said Scrooge, "and it's not fair. 
If I was to stop half a crown^ for it, you 'd think yourself 
ill used, ril be bound?" 

The clerk smiled faintly. 

"And yet," said Scrooge, "you don't think me ill used 
when I pay a day's wages for no work." 

The clerk observed that it was only once a year. 

"A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty- 
fifth of December!" said Scrooge, buttoning his greatcoat 
to the chin. " But I suppose you must have the whole day. 
Be here all the earlier next morning." 

The clerk promised that he would, and Scrooge walked 
out with a growl. The office was closed in a twinkling, 
and the clerk, with the long ends of his white comforter 
dangling below his waist (for he boasted no greatcoat) ,2 
went down a slide on Cornhill,^ at the end of a lane of 
boys, twenty times, in honor of its being Christmas Eve, 
and then ran home to Camden Town^ as hard as he could 
pelt^ to play at blindman's buff. 

Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melan- 
choly tavern; and having read all the newspapers, and 
beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker's book,^ 
went home to bed. He lived in chambers which had once 
belonged to his deceased partner. They were a gloomy 

1. Stop half a crown. Hold back half a crown, the clerk's 
wages for the day. The British silver crown is equivalent to five 
shillings — a little more than a dollar and twenty cents. 

2. Boasted no greatcoat. Had no overcoat. 

3. Cornhill. A street in London. It derives its name from the 
corn market once held there. 

4. Camden Town. A section in the northern part of London. 

5. As hard as he could pelt. As hard as he could run. 

6. Beguiled . . . banker's book. Caused the evening to pass 
pleasantly by going over his bank account. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 67 

suite of rooms, in a lowering^ pile of building up a yard, 
where it had so little business to be, that one could scarcely 
help fancying it must have run there when it was a young 
house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and 
have forgotten the way out again. It was old enough now, 
and dreary enough, for nobody lived in it but Scrooge, 
the other rooms being all let out as offices. The yard was 
so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was 
fain to grope with his hands. The fog and frost so hung 
about the black old gateway of the house that it seemed 
as if the Genius of the Weather ^ sat in mournful medita- 
tion on the threshold. 

Now it is a fact that there was nothing at all particular 
about the knocker on the door, except that it was very 
large. It is also a fact that Scrooge had seen it, night 
and morning, during his whole residence in that place; 
also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy 
about him as any man in the city of London, even in- 
cluding — which is a bold word — the corporation,^ alder- 
men,^ and livery.^ Let it also be borne in mind that 
Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley since 
his last mention of his seven-year-dead partner that after- 
noon. And then let any man explain to me, if he can, 
how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock 
of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing 
any intermediate process of change — not a knocker, but 
Marley's face. 

1. Lowering. Gloomy; sullen; dark and threatening. 

2. Genius of the Weather (je'ni-iis). The spirit that was sup- 
posed to control the weather. 

3. Corporation. The governing body of the English town or city. 

4. Aldermen. Members of the higher branch of the town council. 

5. Livery. The livery was the body of freemen in the city of 
London. 



68 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Marley's face. It was not in impenetrable shadows/ as 
the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light 
about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.^ It was not 
angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used 
to look with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly 
forehead. The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath 
or hot air ; and though the eyes were wide open, they were 
perfectly motionless. That, and its livid^ color, made it 
horrible ; but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face, 
and beyond its control, rather than a part of its own 
expression. 

As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon"^ it was a 
knocker again. 

To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was 
not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been 
a stranger from infancy, would be untrue. But he put 
his hand upon the key he had relinquished,^ turned it 
sturdily, walked in, and lighted his candle. 

He did pause, with a moment's irresolution,^ before he 
shut the door; and he did look cautiously behind it first, 
as if he half expected to be terrified with the sight of 
Marley's pigtail sticking out into the hall. But there was 
nothing on the back of the door, except the screws and 
nuts that held the knocker on, so he said, ''Pooh, pooh!" 
and closed it with a bang. 

The sound resounded through the house like thunder. 
Every room above, and every cask in the wine merchant's 

1. Impenetrable shadows. Shadows that can not be seen through. 

2. Bad lobster in a dark cellar. A decaying lobster, like a glow- 
worm, gives off in the dark a glow or phosphorescent light. 

3. Livid. Of the ashy hue of death. 

4. Phenomenon (fe-n5m'e-n6n). A very remarkable or unusual 
occurrence. 

5. Relinquished (re-lin'kwisht). Given up, or let go of. 

6. Irresolution. Hesitation; uncertainty. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 69 

cellars below, appeared to have a separate peal of echoes 
of its own. Scrooge was not a man to be frightened by 
echoes. He fastened the door, and walked across the hall, 
and up the stairs, slowly, too, trimming his candle as 
he went. 

You may talk vaguely about driving a coach-and-six^ 
up a good old flight of stairs, or through a bad young act 
of Parliament; but I mean to say you might have got a 
hearse up that staircase, and taken it broadwise, with 
the splinter-bar- towards the wall, and the door towards 
the balustrades,^ and done it easy. There was plenty of 
width for that, and room to spare; which is perhaps the 
reason why Scrooge thought he saw a locomotive hearse^ 
going on before him in the gloom. Half a dozen gas- 
lamps out of the street wouldn't have lighted the entry 
too well, so you may suppose that it was pretty dark with 
Scrooge's dip.^ 

Up Scrooge went, not caring a button for that. Dark- 
ness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it. But before he shut 
his hesLvy door, he walked through his rooms to see that 
all was right. He had just enough recollection of the face 
to desire to do that. 

Sitting-room, bedroom, lumber-room. All as they 
should be. Nobody under the table, nobody under the 
sofa ; a small fire in the grate ; spoon and basin ready ; and 

1. A coach-and-six . . . through a had young act. A coach- 
and-six was the old-fashioned carriage drawn by six horses. The 
whole expression was a common one in Dickens' time, used to re- 
flect upon the looseness with which laws were often framed. 

2. Splinter-bar. A rigid cross-bar to which traces are attached. 

3. Balustrades. Stair rail. 

4. Locomotive hearse. Moving hearse. 

5. Dip. A candle made by dipping the wick repeatedly into 
melted tallow or grease. 



70 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

the little saucepan of grueP (Scrooge had a cold in his head) 
upon the hob.^ Nobody under the bed; nobody in the 
closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging 
up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. Lumber- 
room as usual. Old fireguard, old shoes, two fish baskets, 
washing-stand on three legs, and a poker. 

Quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself 
in; double locked himself in, which was not his custom. 
Thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat,^ put 
on his dressing-gown and slippers and his nightcap, and 
sat down before the fire to take his gruel. 

It was a very low fire indeed ; nothing on such a bitter 
night. He was obliged to sit close to it, and brood over 
it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth 
from such a handful of fuel. The fireplace was an old 
one, built by some Dutch merchant* long ago, and paved 
all round with quaint Dutch tiles,^ designed to illustrate 
the Scriptures. There were Cains and Abels, Pharaoh's 
daughters. Queens of Sheba, angelic messengers descending 
through the air on clouds like feather beds, Abrahams, 
Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, 
hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts; and yet that 
face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient 

1. Gruel. A light food for invalids made by boiling oatmeal or 
corn meal in milk or water. 

2. Hob. A shelf at the back or side of a fireplace for keeping 
victuals warm. 

3. Cravat. A piece of folded goods passed around the neck and 
shirt collar and tied in a bow in front. 

4. Dutch merchant. Soon after William, the ruler of United Neth- 
erlands, ascended the English throne, in 1688, many Dutch mer- 
chants settled in England. 

5. Tiles. Plates, or thin pieces of baked clay, stone, or the like, 
used for making roofs or floors of buildings. Ornamental tiles, made 
and sold by Dutch merchants, were often used about grates and fire- 
places. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 71 

Prophet's rod,^ and swallowed up the whole. If each 
smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape 
some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments 
of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old 
Marley's head on every one. 

'' Humbug ! '' said Scrooge, and walked across the room. 

After several turns, he sat down again. As he threw 
his head back in the chair, his glance happened to rest 
upon a bell, a disused bell, that hung in the room, and 
communicated, for some purpose now forgotten, with a 
chamber in the highest story of the building. It was 
with great astonishment, and with a strange, inexplicable- 
dread, that, as he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing. 
It swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a 
sound ; but soon it rang out loudly, and so did every bell 
in the house. 

This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but 
it seemed an hour. The bells ceased, as they had begun, 
together. They were succeeded by a clanking noise, deep 
down below, as if some person were dragging a heavy- 
chain over the casks in the wine merchant's cellar. Scrooge 
then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted 
houses were described as dragging chains. 

The cellar door flew open with a booming sound, and 
then he heard the noise, much louder, on the floors below ; 
then coming up the stairs; then coming straight towards 
his door. 

" It 's humbug still ! " said Scrooge. " I won't believe it. " 

His color changed, though, when, without a pause, it 
came on through the heavy door, and passed into the room 

1. Prophet's rod. The rod of Aaron, when cast upon the ground 
before Pharaoh, became a serpent. When the Egyptian wise men 
cast down their rods these also became serpents, but were swallowed 
by Aaron's rod. (See Exodus vii, 10-12). 

2. Inexplicable (in-eks'pli-ka-b'l). Not explainable. 



72 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

before his eyes. Upon its coining in, the dying flame 
leaped up, as though it cried, '*I know him! Marley's 
Ghost!" and fell again. 

The same face, the very same. Marley, in his pigtail, 
usual waistcoat, tights and boots ; the tassels on the latter 
bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts,^ and the hair 
upon his head. The chain he drew was clasped about his 
middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; 
and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash- 
boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses 
wrought in steel. His body was transparent; so that 
Scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waist- 
coat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind. . . . 

Though he looked the phantom through and through, 
and saw it standing before him ; though he felt the chilling 
influence of its death-cold eyes, and marked the very tex- 
ture^ of the folded kerchieft bound about its head and chin, 
which wrapper he had not observed before, he was still in- 
credulous,^ and fought against his senses.^ 

"How now!" said Scrooge, caustic^ and cold as ever. 
''What do you want with me?" 

''Much!" — Marley's voice, no doubt about it. 

"Who are you?" 

"Ask me who I was/' 

"Who were you, then?" said Scrooge, raising his voice. 
"You're particular, for a shade." He was going to say, 
"to a shade," but substituted this, as more appropriate. 

1. Coat-skirts. Marley probably wore a long coat somewhat 
like the modern Prince Albert. 

2. Texture. The arrangement and character of the threads. 

3. Kerchief. A covering for the head or neck. 

4. Incredulous. Unbelieving. 

5. Fought against his senses. Tried hard not to believe what he 
saw and heard, 

6. Caustic. Severe; cutting; stinging. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 73- 

*'In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.'^ 

''Can you — can you sit down?" asked Scrooge, looking 
doubtfully at him. 

"lean." 

"Doit, then." 

Scrooge asked the question, because he didn't know 
whether a ghost so transparent might find himself in a 
condition to take a chair; and felt that in the event of 
its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an ' 
embarrassing explanation. But the Ghost sat down on the 
opposite side of the fireplace, as if he were quite used to it. 

"You don't beheve in me," observed the Ghost. 

"I don't," said Scrooge. 

"What evidence would you have of my reality beyond 
that of your own senses?" 

"I don't know," said Scrooge. 

"Why do you doubt your senses?" 

"Because," said Scrooge, "a little thing affects them. 
A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You 
may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a 
crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. 
There 's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever 
you are!" 

Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, 
nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. 
The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of 
distracting^ his own attention, and keeping down his 
terror, for the spectre's voice disturbed the very marrow 
in his bones. 

To sit staring at those fixed, glazed eyes, in silence for 
a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with 
him. There was something very awful, too, in the spec- 

1. Distracting. Diverting; turning aside. 



74 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

tre's being provided with an infernal atmosphere of his 
own.^ Scrooge could not feel it himself, but this was 
clearly the case ; for though the Ghost sat perfectly motion- 
less, his hair, and skirts, and tassels were still agitated^ 
as by the hot vapor from an oven. 

"You see this toothpick?'' said Scrooge, returning 
quickly to the charge,^ for the reason just assigned ; and 
wishing, though it were only for a second, to divert the 
Psion's stony gaze from himself. 

"I do," replied the Ghost. 

"You are not looking at it," said Scrooge. 

"But I see it," said the Ghost, " no th withstanding." 

"Well !" returned Scrooge, "I have but to swallow this, 
and be for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of 
goblins, all my own creation. Humbug, I tell you; 
humbug!" 

At this the spirit raised a frightful cry, and shook his 
chain with such a dismal and appalling^ noise that Scrooge 
held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling 
in a swoon. But how much greater was his horror when, 
the phantom taking off the bandage round his head, as 
if it were too warm to wear indoors, his lower jaw dropped 
upon his breast ! 

Scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before 
his face. 

"Mercy!" he said. "Dreadful apparition, why do you 
trouble me?" 

1. Infernal atmosphere of his own. The ghost was enveloped 
with the atmosphere of the region in which he had been confined. 

2. Agitated. Stirred up; disturbed. 

3. The charge. Scrooge's assertion that the ghost was not real 
but was only the result of bad digestion. 

4. Appalling. Frightful; fearful. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 75 

"Man of the worldly mindl''^ replied the Ghost, "do 
you believe in me or not?'' 

"I do," said Scrooge. "I must. But why do spirits 
walk the earth, and why do they come to me?" 

" It is required of every man," the Ghost returned, "that 
the spirit within him should walk abroad among his 
fellow-men, and travel far and wide ; and if that spirit goes 
not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It 
is doomed to wander through the world — oh, woe is me ! — 
and witness what it can not share, but might have shared 
on earth, and turned to happiness!" 

Again the spectre raised a cry, and shook his chain and 
wrung his shadowy hands. 

"You are fettered," said Scrooge, trembling. "Tell 
me why. " 

" I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. 
" I made it link by link, and yard by yard ; I girded it on 
of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. 
Is its pattern strange to youV 

Scrooge trembled more and more. 

"Or would you know," pursued the Ghost, "the weight 
and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was 
full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. 
You have labored on it since. It is a ponderous^ chain!" 

Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the ex- 
pectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty 
or sixty fathoms of iron cable ;^ but he could see nothing. 

1. Man of the worldly mind. Scrooge had centered his attention 
upon things of the world for so long that he had no appreciation of 
things of the spirit; hence the ghost called him " Man of the worldly 
mind." 

2. Ponderous. Very large; heavy. 

3. Fathoms of iron cable. In Great Britain the unit of cable 
measurement is the fathom, which is one thousandth of a mile in 
length. 



76 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

''Jacob!" he said imploringly. ''Old Jacob Marley, 
tell me more! Speak comfort to me, Jacob!" 

"I have none to give," the Ghost replied. "It comes 
from other regions, Ebenezer Scrooge, and is conveyed 
by other ministers, to other kinds of men. Nor can I 
tell you what I would. A very little more is all permitted 
to me. I can not rest, I can not stay, I can not linger 
anywhere. My spirit never walked beyond our counting- 
house — mark me ! — in life my spirit never roved beyond the 
narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary 
journeys lie before me!" 

It was a habit with Scrooge, whenever he became 
thoughtful, to put his hands in his breeches pockets. 
Pondering on what the Ghost had said, he did so now, 
but without lifting up his eyes, or getting off his knees. 

"You must have been very slow about it, Jacob," 
Scrooge observed in a business-like manner, though with 
humxility and deference.^ 

"Slow!" the Ghost repeated. 

"Seven years dead," mused Scrooge. "And traveling 
all the time?" 

"The whole time," said the Ghost. "No rest, no 
peace. Incessant torture of remorse." ^ 

"You travel fast?" said Scrooge. 

"On the wings of the wind," replied the Ghost. 

"You might have got over a great quantity of ground 
in seven years," said Scrooge. 

The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and 
clanked his chain so hideously in the dead silence of the 

1. Deference. Respect, 

2. Remorse. Pain caused by a sense of guilt. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 77 

night that the ward^ would have been justified in indict- 
ing^ it for a nuisance. 

'^Oh! captive, bound and double ironed," cried the 
phantom, "not to know that ages of incessant labor, by 
immortal creatures, for this earth, must pass into eternity 
before the good of which it is susceptible^ is all developed I 
Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in 
its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal 
life too short for its vast means of usefulness! Not to 
know that no space of regret can make amends for one 
life's opportunities misused ! Yet such was I ! Oh ! such 
was I!" 

"But you were always a good man of business, Jacob," 
faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. 

"Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing his hands again. 
"Mankind was my business. The common welfare was 
my business; charity, mercy, forbearance,^ and benev- 
olence^ w^ere, all, my business. The dealings of my trade 
were but a drop of water in the comprehensive^ ocean of 
my business!" 

He held up his chain at arm's length, as if that were 
the cause of all his unavailing grief,^ and flung it heavily 
upon the ground again. 

"At this time of the rolling year," the spectre said," I 
suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow- 

1. Ward. A ward is a division of a city. Here the citizens of 
the ward are meant. 

2. Indicting. Charging with an offense. 

3. Susceptible. Capable of receiving. 

4. Forbearance. Calm endurance of offenses. 

5. Benevolence. Love of mankind, accompanied with a desire to 
do good to men. 

6. Comprehensive. Vast; large; having a wide scope. 

7. Unavailing grief. Grief which accomplishes nothing. 



78 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them 
to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor 
abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light 
would have conducted me?'' 

Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre 
going on at this rate, and began to quake exceedingly. 

''Hear me!" cried the Ghost. "My time is nearly 
gone." 

"I will," said Scrooge. "But don't be hard upon me! 
Don't be flowery, Jacob! Pray!" 

"How it is that I appear before you in a shape that you 
can see, I may not tell. I have sat invisible beside you 
many and many a day." 

It was not an agreeable idea. Scrooge shivered, and 
wiped the perspiration from his brow. 

"That is no light part of my penance,"^ pursued the 
Ghost. "I am here to-night to warn you, that you have, 
yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and 
hope of my procuring, Ebenezer." 

"You were always a good friend to me," said Scrooge. 
"Thankee!" 

"You will be haunted," resumed the Ghost, "by three 
spirits." 

Scrooge's countenance fell almost as low as the Ghost's 
had done.2 

"Is that the chance and hope you mentioned, Jacob"? 
he demanded, in a faltering voice. 

"It is." 

"I — I think I 'd rather not," said Scrooge. 

"Without their visits," said the Ghost, "you can not 

1. Penance. Suffering which one undergoes to make amends for 
wrongdoing. 

2. Scrooge's countenance . . . had done. This refers to the 
dropping of the spectre's jaw when the bandage was removed. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 79 

hope to shun the path I tread. Expect the first to-morrow, 
when the bell tolls One." 

*' Couldn't I take 'em all at once, and have it over, 
Jacob?" hinted Scrooge. 

"Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. 
The third, upon the next night when the last stroke of 
twelve has ceased to vibrate. Look to see me no more ; 
and look that, for your own sake, you remember what has 
passed between us ! " 

When it had said these words, the spectre took its 
wrapper from the table and bound it roimd its head, as 
before. Scrooge knew this, by the smart soimd its teeth 
made when the jaws were brought together by the band- 
age. He ventured to raise his eyes again, and found his 
supernatural^ visitor confronting him in an erect attitude, 
with its chain wound over and about its arm. 

The apparition walked backward from him; and at 
every step it took the window raised itself a little, so 
that when the spectre reached it it was wide open. It 
beckoned Scrooge to approach, which he did. When they 
were within two paces of each other, Marley's Ghost held 
up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. Scrooge 
stopped. 

Not so much in obedience, as in surprise and fear; for 
on the raising of the hand he became sensible of confused 
noises in the air; incoherent^ sounds of lamentation^ and 
regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusa- 
tory. The spectre, after listening for a moment, joined in 
the mournful dirge,^ and floated out upon the bleak, dark 
night. 

1. Supernatural. Unearthly. 

2. Incoherent. Disconnected. 

3. Lamentation. Wailing. 

4. Dirge. A song of grief and mourning. 



80 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Scrooge followed to the window, desperate in his curi- 
osity. He looked out. 

The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and 
thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. Every 
one of them wore chains like Marley's Ghost; some few 
(they might be guilty governments) were linked together ; 
none were free. Many had been personally known to 
Scrooge in their lives. He had been quite familiar with 
one old ghost, in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous iron 
safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at being 
unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom 
it saw below, upon a doorstep. The misery with them all 
was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in 
human matters, and had lost the power forever. 

Whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist en- 
;shrouded them, he could not tell. But they and their spirit 
voices faded together ; and the night became as it had been 
^when he walked home. 

Scrooge closed the window, and examined the door by 
which the Ghost had entered. It was double locked, as he 
had locked it with his own hands, and the bolts were un- 
disturbed. He tried to say "Humbug!" but stopped at 
"the first syllable. And being, from the emotion he had 
undergone, or the fatigues of the day, or his glimpse of the 
Invisible World, or the dull conversation of the Ghost, or 
the lateness of the hour, much in need of repose, went 
straight to bed, without undressing, and fell asleep on the 
instant. 

Stave Two 

the first of the three spirits 

When Scrooge awoke it was so dark that, looking out 
•of bed, he could scarcely distinguish the transparent win- 
dow from the opaque walls of his chamber. He was 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 81 

endeavoring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes/ 
when the chimes of a neighboring church struck the four 
quarters. So he hstened for the hour. 

To his great astonishment the heavy bell went on from 
six to seven, and from seven to eight, and regularly up to 
twelve; then stopped. Twelve ! It was past two when he 
went to bed. The clock was wrong. >An icicle must have 
got into the works. Twelve ! 

He touched the spring of his repeater,^ to correct this 
most preposterous clock.^ Its rapid little pulse beat twelve ; 
and stopped. 

"Why, it isn't possible," said Scrooge, ''that I can have 
slept through a whole day and far into another night. It 
isn't possible that anything has happened to the sun, and 
this is twelve at noon!" 

The idea being an alarming one, he scrambled out of 
bed, and groped his way to the window. He was obliged to 
rub the frost off with the sleeve of his dressing-gown before 
he could see anything; and could see very little then. All 
he could make out was, that it was still very foggy and 
extremely cold, and that there was no noise of people run- 
ning to and fro, and making a great stir, as there unques- 
tionably would have been if night had beaten off bright 
■day, and taken possession of the world. . . . 

Scrooge went to bed again, and thought, and thought, 
and thought it over and over, and could make nothing of 
it. The more he thought, the more perplexed he was ; and 
the more he endeavored not to think, the more he thought. 

1. Ferret eyes. Keen, searching eyes. The ferret is a small ani- 
mal used to search out and catch rats, rabbits, and the like. 

2. Repeater. A watch which, upon pressure on a spring, will 
strike, usually indicating the last hour and the quarters. 

3. Preposterous clock. Scrooge considers the clock preposterous, 
or absurd, because he can not understand why it should be striking 
twelve. 



82 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Marley's Ghost bothered him exceedingly. Every time 
he resolved within himself, after mature inquiry, that it 
was all a dream, his mind flew back again, like a strong 
spring released, to its first position, and presented the 
same problem to be worked all through. "Was it a dream 
or not?'' 

Scrooge lay in this state until the chime had gone three 
quarters more, when he rem.embered, on a sudden, that the 
Ghost had warned him of a visitation when the bell tolled 
one. He resolved to lie awake until the hour was passed ; 
and, considering that he could no more go to sleep than 
go to heaven, this was, perhaps, the wisest resolution in his 
power. 

The quarter was so long that he was more than once 
convinced he must have sunk into a doze unconsciously, 
and missed the clock. At length it broke upon his listen- 
ing ear. 

"Ding, dong!" 

"A quarter past," said Scrooge, counting. 

"Ding, dong!'' 

"Half past," said Scrooge. 

"Ding, dong!" 

"A quarter to it," said Scrooge. 

"Ding, dong!" 

"The hour itself," said Scrooge triumphantly, "and 
nothing else!" 

He spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now 
did with a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy One. Light 
flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains 
of his bed were drawn. 

The curtains of his bed were drawn aside, I tell you, by 
a hand. Not the curtains at his feet, nor the curtains at 
his back, but those to which his face was addressed.^ The 

1. Addressed. Turned. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 83 

curtains of his bed were drawn aside ; and Scrooge, starting 
up into a half -recumbent^ attitude, found himself face to 
face with the unearthly visitor who drew them : as close to 
it as I am now to you, and I am standing in the spirit at 
your elbow. 

It was a strange figure — like a child; yet not so like a 
child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural 
medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded 
from the view, and being diminished to a child's propor- 
tions. Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its 
back, was white, as if with age ; and yet the face had not a 
wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. 
The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the 
same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs 
and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper 
members, bare. It wore a tunic^ of the purest white ; and 
round its waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen^ of 
which was beautiful. It held a branch of fresh, green holly 
in its hand; and, in singular contradiction of that wintry 
emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. But 
the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its 
head there sprung a bright, clear jet of light, by which all 
this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of 
its' using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher^ for a 
cap, which it now held under its arm. 

Even this, though, when Scrooge looked at it with in- 
creasing steadiness, was not its strangest quality. For as 
its belt sparkled and glittered, now in one part and now 

1. Half-recumbent. Half reclining or half lying down. 

2. Tunic. A loose-fitting garment worn with a belt or gathered 
at the waist. 

3. Sheen. Brightness. 

4. Extinguisher. A hollow cone with a handle attached, used for 
putting out torches or candles. 



84 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

in another, and what was hght one instant at another time 
was dark, so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness :^ 
being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now 
with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now 
a head without a body ; of which dissolving parts no outline 
would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted 
away. And, in the very wonder of this, it would be itself 
again, distinct and clear as ever. 

"Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to 
me?" asked Scrooge. 

"lam!" 

The voice was soft and gentle. Singularly low, as if 
instead of being so close beside him, it were at a distance. 

"Who, and what are you?" Scrooge demanded. 

"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past." 

"Long Past?" inquired Scrooge, observant^ of its 
dwarfish stature. 

"No. Your past." 

Perhaps Scrooge could not have told anybody why, if 
anybody could have asked him, but he had a special desire 
to see the Spirit in his cap, and begged him to be covered.-^ 

"What!" exclaimed the Ghost, "would you so soon put 
out, with worldly hands, the light I give? Is it not enough 
that you are one of those whose passions made this cap, 
and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low 
upon my brow?" 

Scrooge reverently disclaimed all intention to offend or 
any knowledge of having wilfully "bonneted" the Spirit at 
any period of his life. He then made bold to inquire what 
business brought him there. 

1. Fluctuated in its distinctness. Wavered between dimness and 
distinctness. 

2. Observant. Taking notice of. 

3. To be covered. To put the cap on. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 85 

"Your welfare!" said the Ghost. 

Scrooge expressed himself much obliged, but could not 
help thinking that a night of unbroken rest would have 
been more conducive^ to that end. The Spirit must have 
heard him thinking, for it said immediately : 

'' Your reclamation, 2 then. Take heed ! '' 

It put out its strong hand as it spoke, and clasped him 
gently by the arm. 

''Rise, and walk with me!" 

It would have been in vain for Scrooge to plead that 
the weather and the hour were not adapted to pedestrian 
purposes ; that the bed was warm, and the thermometer a 
long way below freezing ; that he was clad but lightly in his 
slippers, dressing-gown, and nightcap; and that he had a 
cold upon him at that time. The grasp, though gentle as 
a woman's hand, was not to be resisted. He rose; but 
finding that the Spirit made towards the window, clasped 
its robe in supplication. 

"I am a mortal," Scrooge remonstrated, ''and liable to 
fall." 

*'Bear but a touch of my hand there," said the Spirit, 
laying it upon his heart, "and you shall be upheld in more 
than this!" 

As the words were spoken, they passed through the wall, 
and stood upon an open country road, with fields on either 
hand. The city had entirely vanished. Not a vestige^ of it 
was to be seen. The darkness and the mist had vanished 
with it, for it was a clear, cold, winter day, with snow upon 
the ground. 

1. Conducive. Leading or tending toward; helpful. 

2. Your reclamation. The ghost means that he has come to 
bring Scrooge back from his hard, cold, selfish nature to true man- 
hood. 

3. Vestige. A trace, mark or visible sign. 



86 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

"Good Heaven!" said Scrooge, clasping his hands to- 
gether, as he looked about him. " I was bred in this place. 
I was a boy here!'^ 

The Spirit gazed upon him mildly. Its gentle touch, 
though it had been light and instantaneous,^ appeared still 
present to the old man's sense of feeling. He was con- 
scious of a thousand odors floating in the air, each one 
connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, 
and cares, long, long forgotten ! 

"Your lip is trembling," said the Ghost. "And what is 
that upon your cheek?" 

Scrooge muttered, with an unusual catching in his voice, 
that it was a pimple, and begged the Ghost to lead him 
where he would. 

"You recollect the way?" inquired the Spirit. 

"Remember it!" cried Scrooge with fervor ;2 "I could 
walk it blindfold." 

"Strange to have forgotten it for so many years!" ob- 
served the Ghost. "Let us go on." 

They walked along the road, Scrooge recognizing every 
gate, and post, and tree; until a little market town ap- 
peared in the distance, with its bridge, its church, and 
winding river. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting 
towards them with boys upon their backs, who called to 
other boys in country rigs and carts, driven by farmers. 
All these boys were in great spirits, and shouted to each 
other, until the broad fields were so full of merry music 
that the crisp air laughed to hear it. 

"These are but shadows of the things that have been," 
said the Ghost. "They have no consciousness of us." ^ 

1. Had been instantaneous. Had remained only for an instant. 

2. Fervor. Earnestness; intensity of feeling. 

3. They have no consciousness of us. They are not aware of our 
presence. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 87 

The jocund^ travelers came on; and as they came, 
Scrooge knew and named them every one. Why was he 
rejoiced beyond all bounds to see them? Why did his cold 
eye glisten, and his heart leap up as they went past? Why 
was he filled with gladness when he heard them give each 
other Merry Christmas, as they parted at crossroads and 
byways, for their several homes? What was merry Christ- 
mas to Scrooge? Out upon merry Christmas ! What good 
had it ever done to him? 

''The school is not quite deserted," said the Ghost. "A 
solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still." 

Scrooge said he knew it. And he sobbed. 

They left the high road, by a well-remembered lane, and 
soon approached a mansion of dull red brick, with a little 
weathercock-surmounted cupola^ on the roof, and a bell 
hanging in it. It was a large house, but one of broken 
fortunes;^ for the spacious^ offices were little used, their 
walls were damp and mossy, their windows broken, and 
their gates decayed. Fowls clucked and strutted in the 
stables, and the coach houses and sheds were overrun with 
grass. Nor was it more retentive of its ancient state with- 
in ; for entering the dreary hall, and glancing through the 
open doors of many rooms, they found them poorly fur- 
nished, cold, and vast. There was an earthy savor in the 
air, a chilly bareness in the place, which associated itself 
somehow with too much getting up by candlehght, and 
not too much to eat. 

They went, the Ghost and Scrooge, across the hall, to a 
door at the back of the house. It opened before them, and 

1. Jocund (jok'und). Merry; gay. 

2. Cupola. A small structure built upon the top of a roof or 
building. 

3. Of broken fortunes. Not in good repair; gone to ruin. 

4. Spacious. Large; roomy. 



88 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

disclosed a long, bare, melancholy room, made barer still 
by lines of plain deal forms^ and desks. At one of these a 
lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire ; and Scrooge sat 
down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten 
self as he had used to be. 

Not a latent^ echo in the house, not a squeak and scuffle 
from the mice behind the paneling, not a drip from the 
half-thawed waterspout in the dull yard behind, not a 
sigh among the leafless boughs of one despondent poplar, 
not the idle swinging of an empty storehouse door, no, not 
a clicking in the fire, but fell upon the heart of Scrooge 
with softening influence and gave a freer passage to his 
tears. 

The Spirit touched him on the arm, and pointed to his 
younger self, intent upon his reading. Suddenly a man, 
in foreign garments, wonderfully real and distinct to look 
at, stood outside the window, with an axe stuck in his belt, 
and leading by the bridle an ass laden with wood. 

''Why, it's Ali Baba!''^ Scrooge exclaimed, in ecstasy. 
" It 's dear old honest Ali Baba ! Yes, yes, I know ! One 
Christmas time when yonder solitary child was left here 
all alone, he did come, for the first time, just like that. 
Poor boy! And Valentine," said Scrooge, *'and his wild 
brother Orson ; ^ there they go ! And what 's his name, who 
was put down in his drawers, asleep, at the Gate of Damas- 
cus; don't you see him? And the Sultan's Groom turned 

1. Deal forms. Pine benches without backs, used as seats in 
schoolhouses. 

2. Latent. Hidden; concealed; sleeping. 

3. AH Baba. A character in the "Arabian Nights;" the hero 
of "The Forty Thieves." 

4. Valentine Orson. Valentine and Orson were twin 
sons of the Emperor of Constantinople. Orson was carried off by 
a bear and lived in the forest, but Valentine lived at court. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 89 

upside down by the Genii ; there he is upon his head ! ^ Serve 
him right ! I 'm glad of it. What business had he to be 
married to the Princess?" 

To hear Scrooge expending all the eai'nestness of his 
nature on such subjects, in a most extraorriinary voice be- 
tween laughing and crying, and to see hie heightened and 
excited face, would have been a surpris:i to his business 
friends in the city, indeed. 

*' There 's the Parrot ! " cried Scrooge. " Green body and 
yellow tail, with a thing like a lettuce growing out of the 
top of his head; there he is! Poor Robin Crusoe, he 
called him, when he came home again, after sailing round 
the island. Toor Robin Crusoe, where have you been, 
Robin Crusoe?' The man thought he was dreaming, but 
he wasn't. It was the Parrot, you know. There goes 
Friday, running for his life to the little creek! Halloa! 
Hoop! Halloo!" 

Then, with a rapidity of transition^ very foreign to his 
usual character, he said, in pity for his former self, ''Poor 
boy!" and cried again. 

''I wish," Scrooge muttered, putting his hand in his 
pocket, and looking about him, after drying his eyes with 
his cuff: ''but it's too late now." 

"What is the matter?" asked the Spirit. 

"Nothing," said Scrooge, "nothing. There was a boy 
singing a Christmas carol at my door last night. I should 
like to have given him something; that's all." 

The Ghost smiled thoughtfully, and waved its hand, 
saying, as it did so, "Let us see another Christmas!" 

1. Sultan's Groom . upon his head. In the Arabian 
Nights tale named Bedred-din Hassan, the Sultan's Groom, a hunch- 
back, seeks the hand of the Princess. For his impudence he is 
siezed by the Genii, the guardian spirits, and set against the wall, 
head downward. 

2. Transition. Change. 



90 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Scrooge's former self grew larger at the words, and the 
room became a little darker and more dirty. The panels 
shrunk, the windows cracked; fragments of plaster fell 
out of the ceiling, and the naked laths were shown instead ; 
but how all this was brought about, Scrooge knew no more 
than you do. He only knew that it was quite correct ; that 
everything had happened so; that there he was, alone 
again, when all the other boys had gone home for the jolly 
holidays. 

He was not reading now, but walking up and down de- 
spairingly. Scrooge looked at the Ghost, and, with a 
mournful shaking of his head, glanced anxiously towards 
the door. 

It opened, and a little girl, much younger than the boy, 
came darting in, and, putting her arms about his neck, and 
often kissing him, addressed him as her "Dear, dear 
brother.'' 

"I have come to bring you home, dear brother!" said 
the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bending down to 
laugh. "To bring you home, home, home!" 

"Home, little Fan?" returned the boy. 

"Yes," said the child, brimful of glee. "Home, for 
good and all. Home, for ever and ever. Father is so much 
kinder than he used to be, that homiC 's like Heaven ! He 
spoke so gently to me one dear night when I was going to 
bed that I was not afraid to ask him once more if you 
might come home ; and he said Yes, you should ; and sent 
me in a coach to bring you. And you're to be a man!" 
said the child, opening her eyes, "and are never to come 
back here ; but first, we 're to be together all the Christmas 
long, and have the merriest time in all the world." 

"You are quite a woman, little Fan!" exclaimed the 
boy. 

She clapped her hands and laughed, and tried to touch 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 91 

his head ; but, being too little, laughed again, and stood on 
tiptoe to embrace him. Then she began to drag him, in her 
childish eagerness, towards the door ; and he, nothing loath 
to go, accompanied her. 

A terrible voice in the hall cried, " Bring down Master 
Scrooge's box, there !" and in the hall appeared the school- 
master himself, who glared on Master Scrooge with a fero- 
cious condescension,^ and threw him into a dreadful state 
of mind by shaking hands with him. He then conveyed 
him and his sister into the veriest^ old well of a shivering 
best parlor that ever was seen, where the maps upon the 
wall, and the celestial and terrestrial globes^ in the windows 
were waxy with cold. Here he produced a decanter^ of 
curiously light wine, and a block of curiously heavy cake, 
and administered instalments of those dainties to the 
young people; at the same time sending out a meagre^ 
servant to offer a glass of "something" to the postboy, 
who answered that he thanked the gentleman, but if it was 
the same tap^ as he had tasted before, he had rather not. 
Master Scrooge's trunk being by this time tied on to the top 
of the chaise, the children bade the schoolmaster good-by 
right willingly ; and, getting into it, drove gayly down the 
garden sweep, the quick wheels dashing the hoarfrost and 
snow from off the dark leaves of the evergreens like spray. 

"Always a delicate creature, whom a breath might have 
withered," said the Ghost. "But she had a large heart!" 

1. Condescension. The act of coming down from one's rank or 
dignity to mingle with one's inferiors. 

2. Veriest. The superlative form of "very." It is rarely used. 

3. Celestial and terrestrial globes. A celestial globe shows the 
heavens; a terrestrial globe represents the earth. 

4. Decanter. A glass bottle for holding wine or other liquors. 

5. Meagre. Thin; lean. 

6. The same tap. The same kind of liquor. 



92 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

"So she had/' cried Scrooge. *' You 're right. I will not 
gainsay 1 it, Spirit. God forbid ! " 

''She died a woman," said the Ghost, "and had, as I 
think, children." 

"One child," Scrooge returned. 

" True," said the Ghost. " Your nephew ! " 

Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind, and answered 
briefly, "Yes." 

Although they had but that moment left the school be- 
hind them, they were now in the busy thoroughfare of a 
city, where shadowy passengers passed and repassed; 
where shadowy carts and coaches battled for the way, and 
all the strife and tumult of a real city were. It was made 
plain enough, by the dressings of the shops, that here, too, 
it was Christmas time again ; but it was evening, and the 
streets were lighted up. 

The Ghost stopped at a certain warehouse door, and 
asked Scrooge if he knew it. 

" Know it ! " said Scrooge. " Was I apprenticed^ here ! " 

They went in. At sight of an old gentleman in a Welsh 
wig,^ sitting behind such a high desk that if he had been 
two inches taller he must have knocked his head against 
the ceiling, Scrooge cried in great excitement: 

" Why, it 's old Fezziwig ! Bless his heart ; it 's Fezziwig 
alive again." 

Old Fezziwig laid down his pen, and looked up at the 
clock, which pointed to the hour of seven. He rubbed his 
hands; adjusted his capacious waistcoat;* laughed all over 

1. Gainsay. Dispute. 

2. Apprenticed. Bound by legal agreement to serve another per- 
son for a certain time for the purpose of learning an art or trade. 

3. Welsh wig. A worsted cap. 

4. Capacious waistcoat. A large, loose-fitting vest. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 93 

himself, from his shoes to his organ of benevolence/ and 
called out, in a comfortable, oily, rich, fat, jovial voice: 

''Yo ho, there! Ebenezer! Dick!" 

Scrooge's former self, now grown a young man, came 
briskly in, accompanied by his fellow-'prentice. 

''Dick Wilkins, to be sure!" said Scrooge to the Ghost. 
'' Bless me, yes. There he is. He was very much attached 
to me, was Dick. Poor Dick! Dear, dear!" 

'' Yo ho, my boys !" said Fezziwig. ''No more work to- 
night. Christmas Eve, Dick. Christmas, Ebenezer ! Let 's 
have the shutters up," cried old Fezziwig, with a sharp clap 
of his hands, "before a man can say Jack Robinson!" 

You wouldn't believe how those two fellows went at it ! 
They charged into the otreet with the shutters — one, two, 
three — had 'em up in their places — four, five, six — barred 
'em and pinned 'em — seven, eight, nine — and came back 
before you could have got to twelve, panting like race 
horses. 

"Hilli-ho!" cried old Fezziwig, skipping down from the 
high desk with wonderful agility. "Clear away, my lads, 
and let 's have lots of room here ! Hilli-ho, Dick ! Chirrup, 
Ebenezer!" 

Clear away! There was nothing they wouldn't have 
cleared away, or couldn't have cleared away, with old 
Fezziwig looking on. It was done in a minute. Every 
movable was packed off, as if it were dismissed from 
public life forever more ; the floor was swept and watered, 
the lamps were trimmed, fuel was heaped upon the fire; 
and the warehouse was as snug, and warm, and dry, and 
bright a ballroom as you would desire to see upon a winter's 
night. 

In came a fiddler with a music book, and went up to the 

1. Organ or benevolence. The topmost portion of the head is 
supposed by phrenologists to show benevolence. 



94 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

lofty desk, and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty 
stomach-aches. In came Mrs. Fezziwig, one vast, sub- 
stantial smile. In came the three Miss Fezziwigs, beaming 
and lovable. In came the six young followers whose hearts 
they broke. In came all the young men and women em- 
ployed in the business. In came the housemaid, with her 
cousin, the baker. In came the cook, with her brother's 
particular friend, the milkman. In came the boy from over 
the way, who was suspected of not having board enough 
from his master; trying to hide himself behind the girl 
from next door but one, who was proved to have had her 
ears pulled by her mistress. In they all came, one after 
another; some shyly, some boldly, some gracefully, some 
awkwardly, some pushing, some pulling ; in they all came, 
anyhow and everyhow. Away they all went, twenty couple 
at once ; hands half round and back again the other way ; 
down the middle and up again ; round and round in various 
stages of affectionate grouping ; old top couple always turn- 
ing up in the wrong place; new top couple starting off 
again, as soon as they got there ; all top couples at last, and 
not a bottom one to help them! When this result was 
brought about, old Fezziwig, clapping his hands to stop the 
dance, cried out, "Well done!" and the fiddler plunged his 
hot face into a pot of porter,^ especially provided for that 
purpose. But, scorning rest, upon his reappearance he in- 
stantly began again, though there were no dancers yet, as 
if the other fiddler had been carried home, exhausted, on a 
shutter, and he were a brand-new man resolved to beat him 
out of sight, or perish. 

There were more dances, and there were forfeits, and 
more dances, and there was cake, and there was negus,^ 

1. Porter. A liquor usually served to porters. 

2. Negus (ne'gus). A drink made of wine and water, flavored 
with lemon juce and nutmeg. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 95 

and there was a great piece of cold roast, and there was a 
great piece of cold boiled, and there were mince pies, and 
plenty of beer. But the great effect of the evening came 
after the roast and boiled, when the fiddler (an artful dog, 
mind ! the sort of man who knew his business better than 
you or I could have told it him!) struck up *'Sir Roger de 
Coverley."^ Then old Fezziwig stood out to dance with 
Mrs. Fezziwig. Top couple, too ; with a good stiff piece of 
work cut out for them; three or four and twenty pair of 
partners; people who were not to be trifled with; people 
who would dance, and had no notion of walking. 

But if they had been twice as many — ah, four times — 
old Fezziwig would have been a match for them, and so 
would Mrs. Fezziwig. As to her, she was worthy to be his 
partner in every sense of the term. If that's not high 
praise, tell me higher, and I '11 use it. A positive light ap- 
peared to issue from Fezziwig's calves. They shone in 
every part of the dance like moons. You couldn't have 
predicted, at any given time, what would become of them 
next. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs. Fezziwig had gone 
all through the dance; advance and retire, both hands to 
your partner, bow and courtesy, corkscrew, thread-the- 
needle, and back again to your place; Fezziwig ''cut"^ — 
cut so deftly, that he appeared to wink with his legs, and 
came upon his feet again without a stagger. 

When the clock struck eleven, this domestic ball broke 
up. Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig took their stations, one on 
either side of the door, and shaking hands with every per- 
son individually as he or she went out, wished him or her a 
merry Christmas. When everybody had retired but the 

1. Sir Roger de Coverley. An old-fashioned dance, resembling the 
Virginia reel. 

2. Cut. To "cut" is to spring in the air and alternately swing 
the feet in front of each other. 



96 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

two 'prentices/ they did the same to them ; and thus the 
cheerful voices died away, and the lads were left to their 
beds, which were under a counter in the back shop. 

During the whole of this time, Scrooge had acted like a 
man out of his wits. His heart and soul were in the scene, 
and with his former self. He corroborated^ everything, re- 
membered everything, enjoyed everything, and underwent 
the strangest agitation. It was not until now, when the 
bright faces of his former self and Dick were turned from 
them, that he remembered the Ghost, and became con- 
scious that it was looking full upon him, while the light 
upon its head burnt very clear. 

''A small matter," said the Ghost, "to make these silly 
folks so full of gratitude." 

''Small!" echoed Scrooge. 

The Spirit signed to him to listen to the two apprentices, 
who were pouring out their hearts in praise of Fezziwig, 
and, when he had done so, said : 

''Why! Is it not? He has spent but a few pounds of 
your mortal money; three or four, perhaps. Is that so 
much that he deserves this praise?" 

"It isn't that," said Scrooge, heated by the remark, 
and speaking unconsciously like his former, not his latter 
self — "it isn't that, Spirit. He has the power to render 
us happy or unhappy ; to make our service light or burden- 
some; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lies in 
words and looks ; in things so slight and insignificant that 
it is impossible to add and count 'em up ; what then? The 
happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune." 

He felt the Spirit's glance, and stopped. 

1. The two 'prentices. The two apprentices; the boys learning 
the trade under Fezziwig. 

2. Corroborated (ko-rob'o-rat-ed). Confirmed; established; made 
more certain. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 97 

"What is the matter?'' asked the Ghost. 

"Nothing particular," said Scrooge. 

"Something, I think?" the Ghost insisted. 

"No," said Scrooge, "no. I should like to be able to 
say a word or two to my clerk just now. That's all." 

His former self turned down the lamps as he gave utter- 
ance to the wish; and Scrooge and the Ghost again stood 
side by side in the open air. 

" My time grows short," observed the Spirit. " Quick ! " 

This was not addressed to Scrooge, or to any one whom 
he could see, but it produced an immediate effect. For 
again Scrooge saw himself. He was older now; a man in 
the prime of life. His face had not the harsh and rigid 
lines of later years; but it had begun to wear the signs 
of care and avarice.^ There was an eager, greedy, restless 
motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had 
taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree 
would fall. 

He was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young 
girl in a mourning dress, in whose eyes there were tears, 
which sparkled in the light that shone out of the Ghost 
of Christmas Past. 

" It matters little," she said softly. " To you, very little. 
Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and 
comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, 
I have no just cause to grieve." 

"What idol has displaced you?" he rejoined. 

"A golden one." 

"This is the even-handed dealing of the world !" he said. 
"There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and 
there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity 
as the pursuit of wealth!" 

1. Avarice. Greed. 
—7 



98 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

''You fear the world too much," she answered gently. 
"All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being 
beyond the chance of its sordid^ reproach. I have seen 
your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master 
passion. Gain, engrosses^ you. Have I not?" 

"What then?" he retorted. "Even if I have grown so 
much wiser, what then? I am not changed towards you." 

She shook her head. 

"Am I?" 

"Our contract is an old one. It was made when we 
were both poor, and content to be so, until, in good season, 
we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient in- 
dustry. You are changed. When it was made, you were 
another man." 

"I was a boy," he said impatiently. 

"Your own feeling tells you that you were not what you 
are," she returned. "I am. That which promised happi- 
ness when we were one in heart is fraught^ with misery 
now that we are two. How often and how keenly I have 
thought of this, I will not say. It is enough that I have 
thought of it, and can release you." 

"Have I ever sought release?" 

"In words. No. Never." 

"In what, then?" 

"In a changed nature; in an altered spirit; in another 
atmosphere of life; another Hope as its great end. In 
everything that made my love of any worth or value in 
your sight. If this had never been between us," said the 
girl, looking mildly, but with steadiness, upon him, "tell 
me, would you seek me out and try to win me now? 
Ah, no!" 

1. Sordid. Of mean or low nature. 

2. Engrosses. Takes possession of. 

3. Fraught. Filled. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 99 

He seemed to yield to the justice of this supposition, in 
spite of himself. But he said, with a struggle, ''You think 
not." 

"I would gladly think otherwise if I could," she an- 
swered, ''Heaven knows! When / have learned a Truth 
like this, I know how strong and irresistible it must be. 
But if you were free to-day, to-morrow, yesterday, can 
even I believe that you would choose a dowerless^ girl — 
you who, in your very confidfence with her, weigh every- 
thing by Gain ; or, choosing her, if for a moment you were 
false enough to your one guiding principle to do so, do I 
not know that your repentance and regret would surely 
follow? I do; and I release you. With a full heart, for 
the love of him you once were." 

He was about to speak ; but, with her head turned from 
him, she resumed : 

"You may — the memory of what is past half makes me 
hope you will — have pain in this. A very, very brief time, 
and you will dismiss the recollection of it, gladly, as an 
unprofitable dream, from which it happened well that you 
awoke. May you be happy in the life you have chosen!" 

She left him, and they parted. 

"Spirit!" said Scrooge, "show me no more! Conduct 
me home. Why do you delight to torture me?" 

"One shadow more!" exclaimed the Ghost. 

"No more!" cried Scrooge; "no more. I don't wish to 
see it. Show me no more ! " 

But the relentless Ghost pinioned^ him in both his arms, 
and forced him to observe what happened next. 

They were in another scene and place ; a room, not very 
large or handsome, but full of comfort. Near to the 

1. Dowerless. Without dower. The dower is the property 
brought by the wife to the husband at marriage. 

2. Pinioned. Held firmly; bound. 



100 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

winter fire sat a beautiful young girl, so like that last that 
Scrooge believed it was the same, until he saw her, now a 
comely^ matron, sitting opposite her daughter. The noise 
in this room was perfectly tumultuous, for there were more 
children there than Scrooge in his agitated state of mind 
could count ; and, unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, 
they were not forty children conducting themselves like 
one, but every child was conducting itself like forty. The 
consequences were uproarious beyond belief; but no one 
seemed to care ; on the contrary, the mother and daughter 
laughed heartily, and enjoyed it very much ; and the latter, 
soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the 
young brigands^ most ruthlessly. What would I not have 
given to be one of them ! Though I never could have been 
so rude, no, no! I wouldn't for the wealth of all the 
world have crushed that braided hair, and torn it down; 
and for the precious little shoe, I wouldn't have plucked it 
off, God bless my soul ; to save my life. As to measuring her 
waist in sport, as they did, bold young brood, I couldn't 
have done it; I should have expected my arm to have 
grown round it for a punishment, and never come straight 
again. And yet I should have dearly liked, I own, to have 
touched her lips; to have questioned her, that she might 
have opened them; to have looked upon the lashes of her 
downcast eyes, and never raised a blush ; to have let loose 
waves of hair, an inch of which would be a keepsake beyond 
price; in short, I should have liked, I do confess, to have 
had the lightest license^ of a child, and yet to have been 
man enough to know its value. 

But now a knocking at the door was heard, and such a 

1. Comely. Good-looking; handsome. 

2. Got pillaged by the young brigands. Dickens pictures the 
daughter as being robbed by the children. 

3. License. Privilege. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 101 

rush immediately ensued that she, with laughing face and 
plundered^ dress, was borne towards it, in the center of a 
flushed and boisterous group, just in time to greet the 
father, who came home attended by a man laden with 
Christmas toys and presents. Then the shouting and the 
struggling, and the onslaught^ that was made on the de- 
fenseless porter ! The scaling^ him, with chairs for ladders, 
to dive into his pockets, despoiP him of brown-paper 
parcels, hold on tight by his cravat, hug him round the 
neck, pommel his back, and kick his legs in irrepressible 
affection ! ^ The shouts of wonder and delight with which 
the development of every package was received! The 
terrible announcement that the baby had been taken in 
the act of putting a doll's frying-pan into his mouth, and 
was more than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious^ 
turkey, glued on a wooden platter ! The immense relief of 
finding this a false alarm! The joy, and gratitude, and 
ecstasy ! They are all indescribable alike. It is enough 
that, by degrees, the children and their emotions got out of 
the parlor, and, by one stair at a time, up to the top of the 
house, where they went to bed, and so subsided. 

And now Scrooge looked on more attentively than ever, 
when the master of the house, having his daughter leaning 
fondly on him, sat down with her and her mother at his 
own fireside ; and when he thought that such another crea- 
ture, quite as graceful and as full of promise, might have 
called him father, and been a springtime in the haggard 
winter of his life,^ his sight grew very dim indeed. 

1. Plundered. Disordered. 

2. Onslaught. Attack. 

3. Scaling. Climbing; ascending. 

4. Despoil. Rob. 

5. Irrepressible affection. Affection which can not be withheld. 

6. Fictitious (fik-tish'us). Not real. 

7. Haggard winter of his life. His old age. 



102 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

"Belle," said the husband, turning to his wife with a 
smile, "I saw an old friend of yours this afternoon." 

"Who was it?" 

"Guess!" 

"How can I? Tut, don't I know?" she added in the 
same breath, laughing as he laughed. "Mr. Scrooge." 

"Mr. Scrooge it was. I passed his office window; and 
as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside, I could 
scarcely help seeing him. His partner lies upon the point 
of death, I hear; and there he sat alone. Quite alone in 
the world, I do believe." 

"Spirit!" said Scrooge, in a broken voice, "remove me 
from this place." 

" I told you these were shadows of the things that have 
been," said the Ghost. "That they are what they are, do 
not blame me ! " 

" Remove me ! " Scrooge exclaimed. " I can not bear it ! " 

He turned upon the Ghost, and, seeing that it looked 
upon him with a face in which, in some strange way, there 
were fragments of all the faces it had shown him, wrestled 
with it. 

" Leave me ! Take me back ! Haunt me no longer ! ' ' 

In the struggle, if that can be called a struggle in which 
the Ghost, with no visible resistance on its own part, was 
undisturbed by any effort of its adversary,^ Scrooge ob- 
served that its light was burning high and bright; and 
dimly connecting that with its influence over him, he 
seized the extinguisher-cap, and by a sudden action pressed 
it down upon its head. 

The Spirit dropped beneath it, so that the extinguisher 
covered its whole form; but though Scrooge pressed it 
down with all his force, he could not hide the light, which 

1. Adversary. Opponent; foe. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL • 103 

streamed from under it in an unbroken flood upon the 
ground. 

He was conscious of being exhausted, and overcome by 
an irresistible drowsiness; and, further, of being in his 
own bedroom. He gave the cap a parting squeeze, in which 
his hand relaxed ; and had barely time to reel to bed before 
he sank into a heavy sleep. 

Stave Three 

the second of the three spirits 

Awakening in the middle of a prodigiously^ tough 
snore, and sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together, 
Scrooge had no occasion to be told that the bell was again 
upon the stroke of One. He felt that he was restored to 
consciousness in the right nick of time, for the especial 
purpose of holding a conference with the second messenger 
dispatched to him through Jacob Marley's intervention. 
But, finding that he turned uncomfortably cold when he 
began to wonder which of his curtains this new spectre 
would draw back, he put them every one aside with his own 
hands, and, lying down again, established a sharp lookout 
all round the bed. For he wished to challenge the Spirit 
on the moment of its appearance, and did not wish to be 
taken by surprise, and made nervous. 

Now, being prepared for almost anything, he was not 
by any means prepared for nothing; and, consequently, 
when the bell struck One, and no shape appeared, he was 
taken with a violent fit of trembling. Five minutes, ten 
minutes, a quarter of an hour went by, yet nothing came. 
All this time he lay upon his bed, the very core and center 

1. Prodigiously (pro-dij'iis-li). Astonishingly; marvelously. 



104 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

of a blaze of ruddy light, which streamed upon it when the 
clock proclaimed the hour; and which, being only light, 
was more alarming than a dozen ghosts, as he was power- 
less to make out what it meant, or would be at; and was 
sometimes apprehensive^ that he might be at that very 
moment an interesting case of spontaneous combustion, ^ 
without having the consolation of knowing it. At last, 
however, he began to think — as you or I would have 
thought at first; for it is always the person not in the 
predicament who knows what ought to have been done 
in it, and would unquestionably have done it too — at last, 
I say, he began to think that the source and secret of this 
ghostly light might be in the adjoining room, from whence, 
on further tracing it, it seemed to shine. This idea taking 
full possession of his mind, he got up softly, and shuffled in 
his slippers to the door. 

The moment Scrooge's hand was on the lock, a strange 
voice called him by his name, and bade him enter. He 
obeyed. 

It was his own room. There was no doubt about that. 
But it had undergone a surprising transformation. The 
walls and ceiling were so hung with living green that it 
looked a perfect grove; from every part of which bright, 
gleaming berries glistened. The crisp leaves of holly, mis- 
tletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little 
mirrors had been scattered there ; and such a mighty blaze 
went roaring up the chimney, as that dull petrifaction^ of 
a hearth had never known in Scrooge's time, or Marley's, 
or for many and many a winter season gone. Heaped up 

1. Apprehensive. In dread of possible harm or evil; fearful. 

2. Spontaneous combustion. The igniting of substances from 
heat generated within the substances themselves. 

3. Petrifaction. The process of becoming hardened or changed 
into stone. The word is here applied to the hearth itself. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 105 

on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, 
game, poultry, brawn, ^ great joints of meat, sucking pigs, 
long wreaths of sausages, mince pies, plum puddings, bar- 
rels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, 
juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, ^ and 
seething^ bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with 
their delicious steam. In easy state upon this couch, there 
sat a jolly Giant, glorious to see ; who bore a glowing torch, 
in shape not unlike Plenty's horn,^ and held it up, high up, 
to shed its light on Scrooge, as he came peeping round the 
door. 

''Come in!'' exclaimed the Ghost ; "come in! and know 
me better, man!" 

Scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before this 
Spirit. He was not the dogged Scrooge he had been ; and 
though the Spirit's eyes were clear and kind, he did not 
like to meet them. 

"I am the Ghost of Christmas Present," said the Spirit. 
"Look upon me!" 

Scrooge reverently did so. It was clothed in one sim- 
ple, deep green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. 
This garment hung so loosely on the figure that its capa- 
cious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or 
concealed by any artifice.^ Its feet, observable beneath the 
ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its 
head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath, set 

1. Brawn. The flesh of swine prepared by pickling and press- 
ing. 

2. Twelfth-cakes. Cakes prepared and sent to friends at the feast 
of Twelfth Day, a church festival occurring twelve days after 
Christmas. 

3. Seething. Boiling. 

4. Plenty's horn. The cornucopia, or horn of plenty, was the 
emblem of peace and prosperity. It was usually represented as a 
cone-shaped horn, filled with fruits and grain. 

5. Artifice. Trick; device. 



106 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls 
were long and free ; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, 
its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained de- 
meanor,^ and its joyful air. Girded round its middle was 
an antique^ scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the 
ancient sheath was eaten up with rust. 

"You have never seen the like of me before !" exclaimed 
the Sprit. 

''Never," Scrooge made answer to it. 

''Have never walked forth with the younger memibers 
of my family; meaning (for I am very young) my elder 
brothers born in these later years?" pursued the Phantom. 

"I don't think I have," said Scrooge. "I am afraid I 
have not. Have you had many brothers, Spirit?" 

"More than eighteen hundred," said the Ghost. 

"A tremendous family to provide for," muttered 
Scrooge. 

The Ghost of Christmas Present rose. 

"Spirit," said Scrooge submissively, "conduct me where 
you will. I went forth last night on compulsion, and I 
learnt a lesson which is working now. To-night, if you 
have aught to teach me, let me profit by it." 

"Touch my robe!" 

Scrooge did as he was told, and held it fast. 

Holly, mistletoe, red berries, ivy, turkeys, geese, game, 
poultry, brawn, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters, pies, pud- 
dings, fruit, and punch, all vanished instantly. So did the 
room, the fire, the ruddy glow, the hour of night ; and they 
stood in the city streets on Christmas morning, where (for 
the weather was severe) the people made a rough but brisk 
and not unpleasant kind of music, in scraping the snow 

1. Unconstrained demeanor. Graceful, easy behavior. 

2. Antique (an-tek'). Old-fashioned; belonging to ancient times. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 107 

from the pavement in front of their dwellings, and from 
the tops of their houses, whence it was mad delight to the 
boys to see it come plumping down into the road below, 
and splitting into artificial little snowstorms. 

The house fronts looked black enough, and the windows 
blacker, contrasting with the smooth white sheet of snow 
upon the roofs, and with the dirtier snow upon the ground ; 
which last deposit had been plowed up in deep furrows 
by the heavy wheels of carts and wagons; furrows that 
crossed and recrossed each other hundreds of times where 
the great streets branched off; and made intricate^ chan- 
nels, hard to trace, in the thick yellow mud and icy water. 
The sky was gloomy, and the shortest streets were choked 
up with a dingy mist, half thawed, half frozen, whose 
heavier particles descended in a shower of sooty atoms, as 
if all the chimneys in Great Britain had, by one consent, 
caught fire, and were blazing away to their dear hearts' 
content. There was nothing very cheerful in the climate 
or the town, and yet was there an air of cheerfulness abroad 
that the clearest summer air and brightest summer sun 
might have endeavored to diffuse^ in vain. 

For the people who were shoveling away on the house- 
tops were jovial and full of glee, calling out to one another 
from the parapets,^ and now and then exchanging a face- 
tious snowball — better-natured missile far than many a 
wordy jest — laughing heartily if it went right, and not 
less heartily if it went wrong. The poulterers' shops were 
still half open, and the fruiterers' were radiant in their 
glory. There were great, round, pot-bellied baskets of 
chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentle- 

1. Intricate. Complicated; interwoven. 

2. To diffuse. To scatter; to spread. 

3. Parapets. Low walls extending above the roofs of flat-roofed 
buildings. 



108 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

men, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street 
in their apoplectic opulence.^ There were ruddy, brown- 
faced, broad-girded Spanish onions, shining in the fatness 
of their growth like Spanish friars, ^ and winking from their 
shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and 
glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe. There were 
pears and apples, clustered high in blooming pyramids; 
there were bunches of grapes, made, in the shopkeepers' 
benevolence, to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that 
people's mouths might water gratis as they passed ; there 
were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their 
fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant 
shufflings ankle deep through withered leaves ; there were 
Norfolk biffins,^ squab^ and swarthy, setting off the yellow 
of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness 
of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching 
to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner. 
The very gold and silver fish, set forth among these choice 
fruits in a bowl, though members of a dull and stagnant- 
blooded race,^ appeared to know that there was something 
going on; and, to a fish, went gasping round and round 
their little world in slow and passionless excitement. 

The grocers' ! oh, the grocers' ! nearly closed, with per- 
haps two shutters down, or one; but through those gaps 
such glimpses ! It was not alone that the scales descending 
on the counter made a merry sound, or that the twine and 

1. Apoplectic opulence. Opulence means wealth or riches. The 
continued eating of rich food in which wealthy people sometimes 
indulge is said to cause apoplexy. 

2. Friars. Traveling priests. 

3. Norfolk biffins. Norfolk biffins were apples that grew in Nor- 
folk, England. 

4. Squab. Plump. 

5. Stagnant-blooded race. Fish are cold-blooded animals. Their 
blood circulates sluggishly. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 109 

roller parted company so briskly, or that the canisters^ 
were rattled up and down like juggling tricks, or even that 
the blended scents of tea and coffee were so grateful to the 
nose, or even that the raisins were so plentiful and rare, 
the almonds so extremely white, the sticks of cinnamon so 
long and straight, the other spices so delicious, the candied 
fruits so caked and spotted with molten sugar as to make 
the coldest lookers-on feel faint, and subsequently bilious. 
Nor was it that the figs were moist and pulpy, or that the 
French plums blushed in modest tartness from their highly 
decorated boxes, or that everything was good to eat and in 
its Christmas dress ; but the customers were all so hurried 
and so eager in the hopeful promise of the day that they 
tumbled up against each other at the door, crashing their 
wicker baskets wildly, and left their purchases upon the 
counter, and came running back to fetch them, and com- 
mitted hundreds of the like mistakes, in the best humor 
possible; while the grocer and his people were so frank 
and fresh that the polished hearts with which they fas- 
tened their aprons behind might have been their own, worn 
outside for general inspection, and for Christmas daws^ 
to peck at, if they chose. 

But soon the steeples^ called good people all to church 
and chapel, and away they came, flocking through the 
streets in their best clothes, and with their gayest faces. 
And at the same time there emerged from scores of by- 
streets, lanes, and nameless turnings innumerable people, 
carrying their dinners to the bakers' shops.^ The sight of 

1. Canisters. Small boxes or cases for holding tea, coffee, or 
spices. 

2. Christmas daws. Petty thieves. The jackdaw is a bird which 
nests about buildings and steals a great deal of its food. 

3. Steeples. The reference is to the bells in the church steeples. 

4. Bakers' shops. In many foreign countries there are shops to 
which the inhabitants may take food to be cooked. 



110 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

these poor revelers appeared to interest the Spirit very 
much, for he stood, with Scrooge beside him, in a baker's 
doorway, and, taking off the covers as their bearers passed, 
sprinkled incense^ on their dinners from his torch. And it 
was a very uncommon kind of torch, for once or twice when 
there were angry words between some dinner-carriers who 
had jostled each other, he shed a few drops of water on 
them from it, and their good humor was restored directly. 
For they said, it was a shame to quarrel upon Christmas 
Day. And so it was ! God love it, so it was ! 

In time the bells ceased, and the bakers were shut up ; 
and yet there was a genial shadowing forth of all these 
dinners, and the progress of their cooking, in the thawed 
blotch of wet above each baker's oven, where the pavement 
smoked as if its stones were cooking too. 

''Is there a peculiar flavor in what you sprinkle from 
your torch?" asked Scrooge. 

''There is. My own.'' 

"Would it apply to any kind of dinner on this day?" 
asked Scrooge. 

"To any kindly given. To a poor one most." 

"Why to a poor one most?" asked Scrooge. 

"Because it needs it most." 

"Spirit," 2 said Scrooge, after a moment's thought, "I 
wonder you, of all the beings in the many worlds about 
us, should desire to cramp these people's opportunities of 
innocent enjoyment." 

"I!" cried the Spirit. 

"You would deprive them of their means of dining every 

1. Incense. The perfume or smoke from spices and gums burned 
in religious ceremonies. 

2. Spirit. Scrooge here attacks the "Spirit" as the representa- 
tive of the church with its rules limiting people's pleasures. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 111 

seventh day, often the only day on which they can be said 
to dine at all," said Scrooge: "wouldn't you?" 

"I!" said the Spirit. 

"You seek to close these places on the Seventh Day," 
said Scrooge. "And it comes to the same thing." 

"7 seek!" exclaimed the Spirit. 

" Forgive me if I am wrong. It has been done in your 
name, or at least in that of your family," said Scrooge. 

"There are some upon this earth of yours," returned the 
Spirit, "who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds 
of passion, pride, ill will, hatred, envy, bigotry,^ and sel- 
fishness in our name, who are as strange to us, and all our 
kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, 
and charge their doings on themselves, not us." 

Scrooge promised that he would ; and they went on, in- 
visible, as they had been before, into the suburbs of the 
town. It was a remarkable quality of the Ghost (which 
Scrooge had observed at the baker's), that notwithstanding 
his gigantic size, he could accommodate himself to any 
place with ease ; and that he stood beneath a low roof quite 
as gracefully, and like a supernatural creature, as it was 
possible he could have done in any lofty hall. 

And perhaps it was the pleasure the good Spirit had in 
showing off this power of his, or else it was his own kind, 
generous, hearty nature, and his sympathy with all poor 
men, that led him straight to Scrooge's clerk's ; for there 
he went, and took Scrooge with him, holding to his robe ; 
and on the threshold of the door the Spirit smiled, and 
stopped to bless Bob Cratchit's dwelling with the sprink- 
lings of his torch. Think of that! Bob had but fifteen 

1. Bigotry (bi'giit-ri). Obstinate intolerance of beliefs that are 
opposed to one's own. 



112 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

"bob"^ a week himself; he pocketed on Saturdays but 
fifteen copies of his Christian name ; and yet the Ghost of 
Christmas Present blessed his four-roomed house ! 

Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out 
but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave^ in ribbons, 
which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence;^ 
and she laid the cloth, assisted by Belinda Cratchit, second 
of her daughters, also brave in ribbons ; while Master Peter 
Cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes, and 
getting the corners of his monstrous shirt collar (Bob's 
private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honor 
of the day) into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself so 
gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen* in the 
fashionable parks. And now two smaller Cratchits, boy 
and girl, came tearing in, screaming that outside the 
baker's they had smelt the goose, and known it for their 
own ; and, basking in luxurious thoughts of sage and onion, 
these young Cratchits danced about the table, and exalted 
Master Peter Cratchit to the skies, while he (not proud, 
although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire, until 
the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knocked loudly at the 
saucepan lid to be let out and peeled. 

''What has ever got your precious father, then?" said 
Mrs. Cratchit. ''And your brother. Tiny Tim? And 
Martha warn't as late last Christmas Day by half an 
hour!" 

"Here 's Martha, mother," said a girl, appearing as she 
spoke. 

1. Fifteen boh. "Bob" is a slang word for shilling. A shilling is 
worth about twenty-five cents. Hence Bob's weekly wage was 
about three dollars and seventy-five cents. 

2. Brave. Making a fine showing. 

3. Sixpence. A silver coin worth about twelve cents. 

4. His linen. His fine clothes. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 113 

"Here's Martha, mother!" cried the two young 
Cratchits. ''Hurrah! There 's swc/^ a goose, Martha ! " 

"Why, bless your heart ahve, my dear, how late you 
are!" said Mrs. Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and 
taking off her shawl and bonnet for her with officious zeal.^ 

"We'd a deal of work to finish up last night," replied 
the girl, "and had to clear away this morning, mother!" 

"Well! Never mind so long as you are come," said 
Mrs. Cratchit. "Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and 
have a warm. Lord bless ye!" 

" No, no ! There 's father coming," cried the two young 
Cratchits, who were everywhere at once. "Hide, Martha, 
hide!" 

So Martha hid herself, and in came little Bob, the father, 
with at least three feet of comforter, exclusive of the fringe, 
hanging down before him; and his threadbare clothes 
darned up and brushed, to look seasonable ;2 and Tiny Tim 
upon his shoulder. Alas for Tiny Tim, he bore a little 
crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame ! 

"Why, where 's our Martha?" cried Bob Cratchit, look- 
ing round. 

"Not coming," said Mrs. Cratchit. 

"Not coming!" said Bob, with a sudden declension in 
his high spirits ; for he had been Tim's blood horse all the 
way from church, and had come home rampant.^ "Not 
coming upon Christmas Day!" 

Martha didn't like to see him disappointed, if it were 
only in joke ; so she came out prematurely^ from behind the 
closet door, and ran into his arms, while the two young 

1. With officious zeal. With an enthusiastic showing of motherly- 
care. 

2. To look seasonable. To appear in keeping with the Christmas 
season. 

3. Rampant. Charging; rearing. 

4. Prematurely. Before the proper or appointed time. 

—8 



114 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, and bore him off into the 
washhouse, that he might hear the pudding singing in the 
copper. 

"And how did httle Tim behave?'' asked Mrs. Cratchit, 
when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had 
hugged his daughter to his heart's content. 

"As good as gold," said Bob, "and better. Somehow he 
gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks 
the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming 
home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, be- 
cause he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to 
remember, upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars 
walk and blind men see." 

Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and 
trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing 
strong and hearty. 

His active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and 
back came Tiny Tim before another word was spoken, 
escorted by his brother and sister to his stool beside the 
fire; and while Bob, turning up his cuffs — as if, poor fel- 
low, they were capable of being made more shabby — com- 
pounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons, 
and stirred it round and round, and put it on the hob to 
simmer. Master Peter and the two ubiquitous^ young 
Cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they soon 
returned in high procession.^ 

Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a 
goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to 
which a black swan was a matter of course — and in truth 
it was something very like it in that house. Mrs. Cratchit 
made the gravy (ready beforehand in a little saucepan) 

1. Ubiquitous. Being everywhere at the same time. 

2. In high procession. With ceremony; in parade. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 115 

hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with in- 
credible vigor ; Miss Behnda sweetened up the apple sauce ; 
Martha dusted the hot plates ; Bob took Tiny Tim beside 
him in a tiny corner at the table ; the two young Cratchits 
set chairs for everybody, not forgetting themselves, and 
mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into 
their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their 
turn came to be helped. At last the dishes were set on, and 
grace was said. It was succeeded by a breathless pause, as 
Mrs. Cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving-knife, 
prepared to plunge it in the breast ; but when she did, and 
when the long-expected gush of stuffing issued forth, one 
murmur of delight arose all along the board, and even 
Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on 
the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried, 
"Hurrah!^' 

There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't be- 
lieve there ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness 
and flavor, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal 
admiration. Eked out^ by apple sauce and mashed pota- 
toes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family ; indeed, 
as Mrs. Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one 
small atom of a bone^ upon the dish), they hadn't ate 
it all at last ! Yet every one had had enough, and the 
youngest Cratchits in particular were steeped in sage and 
onion to the eyebrows ! But now, the plates being changed 
by Miss Belinda, Mrs. Cratchit left the room alone — too 
nervous to bear witnesses^ — to take the pudding up, and 
bring it in. 

1. Eked out. Completed. 

2. Atom of a bone. An extremely small bit of bone. 

3. Too nervous to bear witnesses. Mrs. Cratchit was so anxious 
about the success of the pudding that she wanted no one to see her 
take it up. 



116 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Suppose it should not be done enough! Suppose it 
should break in turning out! Suppose somebody should 
have got over the wall of the back yard, and stolen it, 
while they were merry with the goose — a supposition at 
v/hich the two young Cratchits became livid! All sorts 
of horrors were supposed. 

Hallo ! A great deal of steam ! The pudding was out 
of the copper. A smell like a washing-day ! That was the 
cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastry cook's 
next door to each other, with a laundress's next door to 
that! That was the pudding! In half a minute Mrs. 
Cratchit entered — flushed, but smiling proudly — with the 
pudding, like a speckled cannon ball, so hard and firm, 
blazing in half of half-a-quartern^ of ignited^ brandy, and 
bedight^ with Christmas holly stuck into the top. 

Oh, a wonderful pudding! Bob Cratchit said, and 
calmly, too, that he regarded it as the greatest success 
achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since their marriage. Mrs. 
Cratchit said that, now the weight was off her mind, she 
would confess she had her doubts about the quantity of 
flour. Everybody had something to say about it, but 
nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for 
a large family. It would have been flat heresy^ to do so. 
Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing. 

At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, 
the hearth swept, and the fire made up. The compound 
in the jug being tasted, and considered perfect, apples and 
oranges were put upon the table, and a shovelful of chest- 

1. Half-a-quartern. A quarter of a pint. 

2. Ignited. Burning. 

3. Bedight. Decorated. 

4. Flat heresy. Heresy was disbelief in the doctrine of the estab- 
lished church and was sometimes punishable by death. For one of 
the Cratchits to have suggested that the pudding was too small 
would have been an unpardonable offense. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 117 

nuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew round 
the hearth in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning 
half a one; and at Bob Cratchit's elbow stood the family 
display of glass — two tumblers, and a custard cup with- 
out a handle. 

These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well 
as golden goblets would have done ; and Bob served it out 
with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sput- 
tered and cracked noisily. Then Bob proposed: 

''A merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us !" 

Which all the family reechoed. 

''God bless us every one!" said Tiny Tim, the last 
of all. 

He sat very close to his father's side, upon his little stool. 
Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the 
child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded 
that he might be taken from him. 

"Spirit," said Scrooge, with an interest he had never 
felt before, 'Hell me if Tiny Tim will live." 

"I see a vacant seat," replied the Ghost, "in the poor 
chimney corner, and a crutch without an owner, care- 
fully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by 
the Future, the child will die." 

"No, no," said Scrooge. "Oh, no, kind Spirit! say he 
will be spared." 

" If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none 
other of my race," returned the Ghost, "will find him here. 
What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and 
decrease the surplus population." 

Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by 
the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief. 

"Man," said the Ghost, "if man you be in heart, not 



118 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

adamant/ forbear that wicked cant^ until you have dis- 
covered what the surplus is, and where it is. Will you 
decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may 
be that in the sight of Heaven you are more worthless and 
less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. 
God ! to hear the insect on the leaf pronouncing on the 
too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!" 

Scrooge bent before the Ghost's rebuke, and trembling, 
cast his eyes upon the ground. But he raised them speed- 
ily, on hearing his own name. 

"Mr. Scrooge!" said Bob; "I'll give you Mr. Scrooge, 
the Founder of the Feast!" 

"The Founder of the Feast, indeed!" cried Mrs. 
Cratchit, reddening. " I wish I had him here. I 'd give 
him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope he 'd 
have a good appetite for it." 

" My dear," said Bob, " the children ! Christmas Day ! " 

"It should be Christmas Day, I am sure," said she, "on 
which one drinks the health of such an odious,^ stingy, 
hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge. You know he is, 
Robert! Nobody knows it better than you do, poor fel- 
low!" 

"My dear," was Bob's mild answer, "Christmas Day." 

" I '11 drink his health for your sake, and the day's," said 
Mrs. Cratchit, "not for his. Long life to him! A merry 
Christmas and a happy New Year ! He '11 be very merry 
and very happy, I have no doubt!" 

The children drank the toast after her. It was the first 
of their proceedings which had no heartiness in it. Tiny 

1. Adamant. A stone supposed to be so hard that it can not be 
broken. Any very hard substance. 

2. Cant. The pious, solemn words of religion used in a meaning- 
less or hypocritical manner. 

3. Odious. Repulsive. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 119 

Tim drank it last of all, but he didn't care twopence for 
it. Scrooge was the ogre^ of the family. The mention of 
his name cast a dark shadow on the party, which was not 
dispelled for full five minutes. 

After it had passed away, they were ten times merrier 
than before, from the mere relief of Scrooge the BalefuP 
being done with. Bob Cratchit told them how he had a 
situation in his eye for Master Peter, which would bring 
in, if obtained, full five-and-sixpence^ weekly. The two 
Cratchits laughed tremendously at the idea of Peter's being 
a man of business ; and Peter himself looked thoughtfully 
at the fire from between his collars, as if he were deliberat- 
ing what particular investments he should favor when he 
came into the receipt of that bewildering income. Martha, 
who was a poor apprentice at a milliner's, then told them 
what kind of work she had to do, and how many hours she 
worked at a stretch, and how she meant to lie abed to- 
morrow morning for a good, long rest; to-morrow being a 
holiday she passed at home. Also how she had seen a 
countess and a lord some days before, and how the lord 
*' was much about as tall as Peter" ; at which Peter pulled 
up hi» collars so high that you couldn't have seen his head 
if you had been there. All this time the chestnuts and the 
jug went round and round ; and by and by they had a song, 
about a lost child traveling in the snow, from Tiny Tim, 
who had a plaintive little voice, and sang it very well 
indeed. 

There was nothing of high mark in this. They were not 
a handsome family ; they were not well dressed ; their shoes 

1. Ogre. A monster of fairy tales and folk lore, who lived on 
human beings; hence, a hideous, cruel man. 

2. Baleful. Full of hurtful influence. Scrooge's name had de- 
stroyed the good cheer of the feast. 

3. Five-and-sixpence. Five shillings and sixpence; about a dollar 
thirty-five cents. 



120 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

were far from being waterproof ; their clothes were scanty ; 
and Peter might have known, and very hkely did, the in- 
side of a pawnbroker's. But they were happy, grateful, 
pleased with one another, and contented with the time; 
and when they faded, and looked happier yet in the bright 
sprinklings of the Spirit's torch at parting, Scrooge had 
his eye upon them, and especially on Tiny Tim, until the 
last. 

By this time it was getting dark, and snowing pretty 
heavily; and as Scrooge and the Spirit went along the 
•streets, the brightness of the roaring fires in kitchens, par- 
lors, and all sorts of rooms was wonderful. Here, the 
flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cozy din- 
ner, with hot plates baking through and through before the 
fire, and deep red curtains, ready to be drawn to shut out 
cold and darkness. There, all the children of the house 
were running out into the snow to meet their married 
sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, and be the first to 
,greet them. Here, again, were shadows on the window 
blinds of guests assembling; and there a group of hand- 
some girls, all hooded and fur-booted, and all chattering at 
once, tripped lightly off to some near neighbor's house, 
•where, woe upon the single man who saw them enter — 
artful witches ! well they knew it — in a glow. 

But, if you had judged from the numbers of people on 
their way to friendly gatherings, you might have thought 
that no one was at home to give them welcome when they 
got there, instead of every house expecting company, and 
piling up its fires half -chimney high. Blessings on it, how 
the Ghost exulted! How it bared its breadth of breast, 
and opened its capacious palm, and floated on, outpouring, 
with a generous hand, its bright and harmless mirth on 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 121 

everything within its reach! The very lampRghter/ who 
ran on before, dotting the dusky street with specks of hght, 
and who was dressed to spend the evening somewhere, 
laughed out loudly as the Spirit passed, though little 
kenned^ the lamplighter that he had any company but 
Christmas ! 

And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, 
they stood upon a bleak and desert moor,^ where monstrous 
masses of rude stone were cast about, as though it were the 
burial-place of giants ; and water spread itself wheresoever 
it listed, or would have done so, but for the frost that held 
it prisoner; and nothing grew but moss and furze,^ and 
coarse, rank grass. Down in the west the setting sun had 
left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation 
for an instant, like a sullen eye, and, frowning lower, 
lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest 
night. 

"What place is this?" asked Scrooge. 

"A place where miners live, who labor in the bowels of 
the earth," returned the Spirit. "But they know me. 
See!" 

A light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly 
they advanced towards it. Passing through the wall of 
mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled 
round a glowing fire. An old, old man and woman, with 
their children and their children's children, and another 
generation beyond that, all decked out gayly in their holi- 
day attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above 
the howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing 

1. Lamplighter. In cities in which the streets are lighted by gas 
or oil lamps a lamplighter goes about in the evening and lights the 
lamps. 

2. Kenned. Knew. 

3. Moor. Waste ground, usually marshy. 

4. Furze, A small shrub. 



122 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

them a Christmas song — it had been a very old song when 
he was a boy — and from time to time they all joined in 
the chorus. So surely as they raised their voices, the old 
man got quite blithe and loud; and so surely as they 
stopped, his vigor sank again. 

The Spirit did not tarry here, but bade Scrooge hold his 
robe, and passing on above the moor, sped — whither? Not 
to sea? To sea. To Scrooge's horror, looking back, he 
saw the last of the land, a frightful range of rocks, behind 
them; and his ears were deafened by the thundering of 
water, as it rolled, and roared, and raged among the dread- 
ful caverns it had worn, and fiercely tried to undermine 
the earth. 

Built upon a dismal reef of sunken rocks, some league or 
so from shore, on which the waters chafed and dashed the 
wild year through, there stood a solitary lighthouse. Great 
heaps of seaweed clung to its base, and storm birds — born 
of the wind, one might suppose, as seaweed of the water — 
rose and fell about it, like the waves they skimmed. 

But even here, two men who watched the light had made 
a fire, that through the loophole in the thick stone wall 
shed out a ray of brightness on the awful sea. Joining their 
homy hands over the rough table at which they sat, they 
wished each other merry Christmas in their can of grog ; ^ 
and one of them, the elder, too, with his face all damaged 
and scarred with hard weather, as the figurehead ^ of an 
old ship might be, struck up a sturdy song that was like 
a gale in itself. 

Again the Ghost sped on, above the black and heaving 
sea — on, on, — ^until, being far away, as he told Scrooge, 
from any shore, they lighted on a ship. They stood beside 

1. Grog. A mixture of spirits and water; any intoxicating liquor. 

2. Figurehead. The figure or statue on the prow of a ship. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 123 

the helmsman^ at the wheel, the lookout in the bow, the 
officers who had the watch; dark, ghostly figures in their 
several stations; but every man among them hummed a 
Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought, or spoke be- 
low his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas 
Day, with homeward hopes belonging to it. And every 
man on board, waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had a 
kinder word for one another on that day than on any day 
in the year ; and had shared to some extent in its festivi- 
ties ; and had remembered those he cared for at a distance, 
and had known that they dehghted to, remember him. 

It was a great surprise to Scrooge, while listening to the 
moaning of the wind, and thinking what a solemn thing it 
was to move on through the lonely darkness over an un- 
known abyss, 2 whose depths were secrets as profound as 
death — it was a great surprise to Scrooge, while thus en- 
gaged, to hear a hearty laugh. It was a much greater sur- 
prise to Scrooge to recognize it as his own nephew's, and to 
find himself in a bright, dry, gleaming room, with the 
Spirit standing smiling by his side, and looking at that 
same nephew with approving affability.^ 

**Ha, ha!" laughed Scrooge's nephew. "Ha, ha, ha!" 

If you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a 
man more blest in a laugh than Scrooge's nephew, all I can 
say is, I should like to know him, too. Introduce him to 
me, and I '11 cultivate his acquaintance. 

It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, 
that, while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is 
nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter 
and good humor. When Scrooge's nephew laughed in this 
way, holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his 

1. Helmsman. The man who guides a ship. 

2. Abyss. A deep, immeasurable space. 

3. With approving affability. In a spirit of friendliness. 



124 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

face into the most extravagant contortions/ Scrooge's 
niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he. And their 
assembled friends, being not a bit behindhand, roared out 
lustily : 

"Ha, Ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" 

"He said that Christmas was a humbug, as I live!" 
cried Scrooge's nephew. "He believed it, too!" 

"More shame for him, Fred!" said Scrooge's niece in- 
dignantly. Bless those women ! they never do anything by 
halves. They are always in earnest. 

She was very pretty ; exceedingly pretty. With a dim- 
pled, surprised-looking, capitaP face ; a ripe little mouth, 
that seemed made to be kissed — as no doubt it was; all 
kinds of good little dots about her chin, that melted into 
one another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair of 
eyes you ever saw in any little creature's head. Altogether 
she was what you would have called provoking, you know ; 
but satisfactory, too. Oh, perfectly satisfactory ! 

"He's a comical old fellow," said Scrooge's nephew, 
"that's the truth; and not so pleasant as he might be. 
However, his offenses carry their own punishment, and I 
have nothing to say against him." 

"I 'm sure he is very rich, Fred," hinted Scrooge's niece. 
"At least you always tell me so." 

" What of that, my dear ? " said Scrooge's nephew. " His 
wealth is of no use to him. He don't do any good with it. 
He don't make himself comfortable with it. He hasn't 
the satisfaction of thinking — ha, ha, ha! — that he is ever 
going to benefit us with it." 

"I have no patience with him," observed Scrooge's 
niece. Scrooge's niece's sisters, and all the other ladies, 
expressed the same opinion. 

1. Contortions. Twistings; writhings. 

2. Capital. Excellent. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 125 

"Oh, I have!" said Scrooge's nephew. "I am sorry for 
him; I couldn't be angry with him if I tried. Who suffers 
by his ill whims? Himself, always. Here, he takes it into 
his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine with 
us. What's the consequence? He don't lose much of a 
dinner." 

''Indeed, I think he loses a very good dinner," inter- 
rupted Scrooge's niece. Everybody else said the same, and 
they must be allowed to have been competent judges, be- 
cause they had just had dinner ; and, with the dessert upon 
the table, were clustered round the fire, by lamplight. 

"Well! I am very glad to hear it," said Scrooge's 
nephew, "because I haven't any great faith in these young 
housekeepers. What do you say, Topper?" 

Topper had clearly got his eye upon one of Scrooge's 
niece's sisters, for he answered that a bachelor was a 
wretched outcast., who had no right to express an opinion 
on the subject. Whereat Scrooge's niece's sister — the 
plump one with the lace tucker, ^ not the one with the 
roses — blushed. 

"Do go on, Fred," said Scrooge's niece, clapping her 
hands. " He never finishes what he begins to say ! He is 
such a ridiculous fellow!" 

Scrooge's nephew reveled in another laugh, and as it 
was impossible to keep the infection off, though the plump 
sister tried hard to do it with aromatic vinegar,^ his 
example was unanimously followed. 

" I was only going to say," said Scrooge's nephew, "that 
the consequence of his taking a dislike to us, and not mak- 
ing merry with us, is, as I think, that he loses some pleas- 

1. Tucker. A collar of lace or linen, worn about the neck by the 
women of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 

2. Aromatic vinegar. A vinegar flavored with strongly scented 
oils or spices. 



126 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

ant moments, which could do him no harm. I am sure he 
loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own 
thoughts, either in his moldy old office or his dusty cham- 
bers. I mean to give him the same chance every year, 
whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. He may rail at 
Christmas till he dies, but he can 't help thinking better of 
it — I defy him — if he finds me going there, in good temper, 
year after year, and saying, 'Uncle Scrooge, how are you?' 
If it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty 
pounds, that's something; and I think I shook him^ yes- 
terday.'' 

It was their turn to laugh now, at the notion of his 
shaking Scrooge. But being thoroughly good-natured, and 
not much caring what they laughed at, so that they 
laughed at any rate, he encouraged them in their merri- 
ment, and passed the bottle joyously. 

After tea, they had some music. For they were a musi- 
cal family, and knew what they were about, when they 
sung a glee or catch, I can assure you ; especially Topper, 
who could growl away in the bass like a good one, and 
never swell the large veins in his forehead, or get red in 
the face over it. Scrooge's niece played well upon the 
harp; and played, among other tunes, a simple little air 
(a mere nothing ; you might learn to whistle it in two min- 
utes) which had been familiar to the child who fetched 
Scrooge from the boarding-school, as he had been reminded 
by the Ghost of Christmas Past. When this strain of 
music sounded, all the things that the Ghost had shown 
him came upon his mind ; he softened more and more ; and 
thought that if he could have listened to it often, years 
ago, he might have cultivated the kindnesses of life for his 

1. Shook him. Started him to thinking. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 127 

own happiness with his own hands, without resorting to 
the sexton's spade that buried Jacob Marley.^ 

But they didn't devote the whole evening to music. 
After a while they played at forfeits ; for it is good to be 
children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, 
when its mighty Founder was a child himself. Stop! 
There was first a game at blindman's buff. Of course 
there was. And I no more believe Topper was really 
blind than I believe he had eyes in his boots. My opinion 
is, that it was a done things between him and Scrooge's 
nephew ; and that the Ghost of Christmas Present knew it. 
The way he went after that plump sister in the lace tucker 
was an outrage on the credulity of human nature.^ Kjiock- 
ing down the fire irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping 
up against the piano, smothering himself amongst the cur- 
tains, wherever she went, there went he ! He always knew 
where the plump sister was. He wouldn't catch any- 
body else. If you had fallen up against him (as some of 
them did) on purpose, he would have made a feint of 
endeavoring to seize you, which would have been an 
affront to your understanding, and would instantly have 
sidled off in the direction of the plump sister. She often 
cried out that it wasn't fair ; and it really was not. But 
when, at last, he caught her; when, in spite of all her 
silken rustlings, and her rapid flutterings past him, he got 
her into a corner whence there was no escape, then his 
conduct was the most execrable.^ For his pretending not 
to know her ; his pretending that it was necessary to touch 

1. Jacob Marley. Scrooge's partner had buried himself from 
happiness by his miserliness. 

2. A done thing. Something agreed upon beforehand. 

3. An outrage on the credulity of human nature. Dickens means 
that it was an outrage to expect any one to believe that Topper 
could not see. 

4. Execrable (ek'se-kra-b'l). Deserving blame; abominable. 



128 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

her headdress, and further assure himself of her identity 
by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, and a certain 
chain about her neck, was vile, monstrous! No doubt 
she told him her opinion of it, when, another blind man 
being in office, they were so very confidential together, 
behind the curtains. 

Scrooge's niece was not one of the blindman's buff party, 
but was made comfortable with a large chair and a foot- 
stool, in a snug corner, where the Ghost and Scrooge were 
close behind her. But she joined in the forfeits, and loved 
her love to admiration with all the letters of the alphabet. 
Likewise at the game of How, When, and Where, she was 
very great, and, to the secret joy of Scrooge's nephew, beat 
her sisters hollow; though they were sharp girls, too, as 
Topper could have told you. There might have been 
twenty people there, young and old, but they all played, 
and so did Scrooge ; for, wholly forgetting, in the interest ' 
he had in what was going on, that his voice made no sound 
in their ears, he sometimes came out with his guess quite 
loud, and very often guessed right, too; for the sharpest 
needle, best Whitechapel,^ warranted not to cut in the eye, 
was not sharper than Scrooge; blunt as he took it in his 
head to be. 

The Ghost was greatly pleased to find him in this mood, 
and looked upon him with such favor, that he begged like 
a boy to be allowed to stay until the guests departed. But 
this the Spirit said could not be done. 

''Here is a new game," said Scrooge. ''One half -hour, 
Spirit, only one!" 

It was a game called Yes and No, where Scrooge's 
nephew had to think of something, and the rest must find 
out what ; he only answering to their questions yes or no, as 

1. Whitechapel. A make of needle. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 129 

the case was. The brisk fire of questioning to which he 
was exposed eUcited^ from him that he was thinking of an 
animal, a five animal, rather a disagreeable animal, a sav- 
age animal, an animal that growled and grunted some- 
times, and talked sometimes, and lived in London, and 
walked about the streets, and wasn't made a show of, and 
wasn't led by anybody, and didn't live in a menagerie, 
and was never killed in a market, and was not a horse, or 
an ass, or a cow, or a bull, or a tiger, or a dog, or a pig, or a 
cat, or a bear. At every fresh question that was put to 
him, his nephew burst into a fresh roar of laughter ; and 
was so inexpressibly tickled, that he was obliged to get up 
off the sofa and stamp. At last the plump sister, falling 
into a similar state, cried out: 

"I have found it out! I know what it is, Fred! I 
know what it is!" 

"What is it?" cried Fred. 

"It's your Uncle Scro-o-o-o-oge ! " 
'Which it certainly was. Admiration was the universal 
sentiment, though some objected that the reply to " Is it a 
bear?" ought to have been "Yes"; inasmuch as an an- 
swer in the negative was sufficient to have diverted^ 
their thoughts from Mr. Scrooge, supposing they had 
ever had any tendency that way. 

"He has given us plenty of merriment, I am sure," said 
Fred, "and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. 
Here is a glass of mulled wine^ ready to our hand at the 
moment; and I say, 'Uncle Scrooge'!" 

"Well ! Uncle Scrooge ! " they cried. 

"A merry Christmas and a happy New Year to the old 

1. Elicited. Brought forth; drew. 

2. Diverted. Turned. 

3. Mulled wine. Wine that has been heated, sweetened, and 
spiced. 

—9 



130 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

man, whatever he is!" said Scrooge's nephew. *'He 
wouldn't take it from me, but may he have it, never- 
theless. Uncle Scrooge!" 

Uncle Scrooge had imperceptibly^ become so gay and 
light of heart that he would have pledged the unconscious 
company in return, and thanked them in an inaudible^' 
speech, if the Ghost had given him time. But the whole 
scene passed off in the breath of the last word spoken by his 
nephew, and he and the Spirit were again upon their 
travels. 

Much they saw, and far they went, and many homes 
they visited, but always with a happy end. The Spirit 
stood beside sick-beds, and they were cheerful ; on foreign 
lands, and they were close at home; by struggling men, 
and they were patient in their greater hope; by poverty, 
and it was rich. In almshouse, hospital, and jail, in 
misery's every refuge, where vain man in his little brief 
authority had not made fast the door, and barred the 
Spirit out, he left his blessing, and taught Scrooge his 
precepts.^ 

It was a long night, if it were only a night ; but Scrooge 
had his doubts of this, because Christmas holidays ap- 
peared to be condensed into the space of time they passed 
together. It was strange, too, that while Scrooge re- 
mained unaltered in his outward form, the Ghost grew 
older, clearly older. Scrooge had observed this change, 
but never spoke of it, until they left a children's Twelfth- 
night party, when, looking at the Spirit as they stood 
together in an open place, he noticed that its hair was 
gi-ay. 

''Are spirits' lives so short?" asked Scrooge. 

1. Imperceptibly. So gradually as not to be perceived or noticed. 

2. Inaudible. Not capable of being heard. 

3. Precepts. Maxims, rules of conduct. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 131 

"My life upon this globe is very brief," replied the 
Ghost. " It ends to-night." 

'* To-night!" cried Scrooge. 

"To-night at midnight. Hark! The time is drawing 
near." 

• • • 

The bell struck Twelve. 

Scrooge looked about him for the Ghost, and saw it not. 
As the last stroke ceased to vibrate, he remembered the 
prediction of old Jacob Marley, and, lifting up his eyes, 
beheld a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, coming, like 
a mist along the ground, towards him. 

Stave Four 

the last of the spirits 

The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently, approached. 
When it came near him, Scrooge bent down upon his 
knee ; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved 
it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery. 

It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which con- 
cealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it 
visible save one outstretched hand. But for this it would 
have been difficult to detach its figure from the night, and 
separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded. 

He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside 
him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with a 
solemn dread. He knew no more, for the Spirit neither 
spoke nor moved. 

" I am in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to 
Come?" said Scrooge. 

The Spirit answered not, but pointed onward with its 
hand. 

"You are about to show me shadows of the things that 



132 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

have not happened, but will happen, in the time before us." 
Scrooge pursued. ''Is that so. Spirit?" 

The upper portion of the garment was contracted for an 
instant in its folds, as if the Spirit had inclined its head. 
That was the only answer he received. 

Although well used to ghostly company by this time, 
Scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs 
trembled beneath him, and he found that he could hardly 
stand when he prepared to follow it. The Spirit paused a 
moment, as observing his condition, and giving him time 
to recover. 

But Scrooge was all the worse for this. It thrilled him 
with a vague, uncertain horror, to know that, behind the 
dusky shroud, there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon 
him, while he, though he stretched his own to the utmost, 
could see nothing but a spectral hand and one great heap 
of black. 

'' Ghost of the Future ! " he exclaimed, " I fear you more 
than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose 
is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man 
from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and 
do it with a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?" 

It gave him no reply. The hand was pointed straight 
before them. 

" Lead on ! " said Scrooge ; " lead on ! The night is wan- 
ing fast, and it is precious time to me, I know. Lead on, 
Spirit!" 

The Phantom moved away as it had come towards him. 
Scrooge followed in the shadow of its dress, which bore 
him up, he thought, and carried him along. 

They scarcely seemed to enter the city; for the city 
rather seemed to spring up about them, and encompass 
them of its own act. But there they were, in the heart of 
it; on 'Change, amongst the merchants ; who hurried up 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 133 

and down, and chinked the monej^ in their pockets, and 
conversed in groups, and looked at their watches, and 
trifled thoughtfully with their gi'eat gold seals, ^ and so 
forth, as Scrooge had seen them often. 

The Spirit stopped beside one little knot of business 
men. Obser\ang that the hand was pointed to them, 
Scrooge advanced to listen to their talk. 

"No," said a great fat man with a monstrous chin, *'I 
don't know much about it either way. I only know he 's 
dead." 

"'^lien did he die?" inquired another. 

"Last night, I believe." 

"Why, what was the matter with him?" asked a third, 
taking a vast quantity of snuff out of a very large snuff-box. 
"I thought he'd never die." 

'* God knows," said the first, with a yawn. 

"Wliat has he done with his money?" asked a red-faced 
gentleman with a pendulous excrescence- on the end of 
his nose, that shook like the gills of a turkey cock. 

"I haven't heard," said the man with the large chin, 
yawning again. "Left it to his company, perhaps. He 
hasn't left it to me. That's all I know." 

This pleasantry was received with a general laugh. 

"It's likely to be a very cheap ftmeral," said the same 
speaker; "for, upon my life, I don't know of anybody to go 
to it. Suppose we make up a party, and volunteer?" 

"I don't mind going if a lunch is pro\ided," observed 
the gentleman with the excrescence on his nose. "But I 
must be fed, if I make one." ^ 

1. Great gold seals. In old English documents seals were used in 
place of signatures, hence it was necessary for merchants to carry 
their seals about with them. 

2. Pendulous excrescence. A hanging growth. 

3. If I make one. If I am one of the party. 



134 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Another laugh. 

"Well, I am the most disinterested among you, after 
all,'' said the first speaker, **for I never wear black gloves, 
and I never eat lunch. But I'll offer to go, if anybody 
else will. When I come to think of it, I 'm not at all sure 
that I wasn't his most particular friend; for we used to 
stop and speak whenever we met. By-by!" 

Speakers and listeners strolled away, and mixed with 
other groups. Scrooge knew the men, and looked towards 
the Spirit for an explanation. 

The Phantom glided on into a street. Its finger pointed 
to two persons meeting. Scrooge listened again, thinking 
that the explanation might lie here. 

He knew these men, also, perfectly. They were men of 
business ; very wealthy, and of great importance. He had 
made a point always of standing well in their esteem : in a 
business point of view, that is ; strictly in a business point 
of view. 

''How are you?" said one. 

''How are you?" returned the other. 

" Well ! " said the first. " Old Scratch has got his own at 
last, hey?" 

" So I am told," returned the second. " Cold, isn't it? " _ 

" Seasonable for Christmas time. You 're not a skater, 
I suppose?" 

"No. No. Something else to think of . Good morn- 
ing!" 

Not another word. That was their meeting, the con- 
versation, and their parting. 

Scrooge was at first inclined to be surprised that the 
Spirit should attach importance to conversations appar- 
ently so trivial; but feeling assured that they must have 
some hidden purpose, he set himself to consider what it was 
likely to be. They could scarcely be supposed to have any 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 135 

bearing on the death of Jacob, his old partner, for that was 
Past, and this Ghost's province was the Future. Nor 
could he think of any one immediately connected with 
himself to whom he could apply them. But nothing 
doubting^ that, to whomsoever they applied, they had some 
latent moral for his own improvement, he resolved to 
treasure up every word he heard, and everything he saw ; 
and especially to observe the shadow of himself when it 
appeared. For he had an expectation that the conduct of 
his future self would give him the clew he missed, and 
would render the solution of these riddles easy. 

He looked about in that very place for his own image; 
but another man stood in his accustomed corner, and 
though the clock pointed to his usual time of day for be- 
ing there, he saw no likeness of himself among the multi- 
tudes that poured in through the porch. It gave him little 
surprise, however, for he had been revolving in his mind a 
change of life, and thought and hoped he saw his new-born 
resolutions carried out in this. 

Quiet and dark, beside him stood the Phantom, with 
its outstretched hand. When he roused himself from his 
thoughtful quest, he fancied, from the turn of the hand 
and its situation in reference to himself, that the Unseen 
Eyes were looking at him keenly. It made him shudder, 
and feel very cold. 

They left the busy scene, and went into an obscure part 
of the town, where Scrooge had never penetrated before, 
although he recognized its situation and its bad repute. 
The ways were foul and narrow; the shops and houses 
wretched; the people half naked, drunken, shpshod, ugly. 
Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools, ^ disgorged 

1. Nothing doubting. Not doubting. 

2. Cesspools. Cisterns or pits for receiving drainage from kitchen 
sinks, or other filth. 



136 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

their offenses of smell, and dirt, and life, upon the strag- 
gling streets; and the whole quarter reeked^ with crime, 
with filth and misery. 

Far in this den of infamous resort, there was a low- 
browed, beetling shop, below a penthouse roof,^ where 
iron, old rags, bottles, bones, and greasy offaP were bought. 
Upon the floor within were piled up heaps of rusty keys, 
nails, chains, hinges, files, scales, weights, and refuse iron 
of all kinds. Secrets that few would like to scrutinize'' were 
bred and hidden in mountains of unseemly rags, masses of 
corrupted^ fat, and sepulchres of bones. ^ Sitting in among 
the wares he dealt in, by a charcoal stove, made of old 
brick, was a gray-haired rascal, nearly seventy years of 
age, who had screened himself from the cold air without 
by a frowzy curtaining of miscellaneous tatters, hung upon 
a line, and smoked his pipe in all the luxury of calm re- 
tirement. 

Scrooge and the Phantom came into the presence of 
this man, just as a woman with a heavy bundle slunk into 
the shop. But she had scarcely entered, when another 
woman, similarly laden, came in too ; and she was closely 
followed by a man in faded black, who was no less startled 
by the sight of them than they had been upon the recogni- 
tion of each other. After a short period of blank astonish- 
ment, in which the old man with the pipe had joined 
them, they all three burst into a laugh. 

"Let the charwoman' alone to be the first!" cried she 

1. Reeked. Was completely filled. 

2. Penthouse roof. A projecting roof. 

3. Offal. Rubbish; garbage. 

4. Scrutinize. Inspect; examine closely or critically. 

5. Corrupted. Decayed; rotted. 

6. Sepulchres of bones. Piles of bones. 

7. Charwoman. A woman hired for odd jobs of work about the 
home. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 137 

who had entered first. *' Let the laundress alone to be the 
second ; and let the undertaker's man alone to be the third. 
Look here, old Joe, here's a chance! If we haven't all 
three met here without meaning it!" 

''You couldn't have met in a better place," said old 
Joe, removing his pipe from his mouth. ''Come into the 
parlor. You were made free of it long ago, you know ; and 
the other two an't strangers. Stop till I shut the door of 
the shop. Ah ! How it skreeks ! There an't such a rusty 
bit of metal in the place as its own hinges, I believe ; and 
I 'm sure there 's no such old bones here as mine. Ha, ha ! 
We're all suitable to our calling, we're well matched. 
Come into the parlor. Come into the parlor." 

The parlor was the space behind the screen of rags. 
The old man raked the fire together with an old stair rod, 
and having trimmed his smoky lamp (for it was night) 
with the stem of his pipe, put it in his mouth again. 

While he did this, the woman who had already spoken 
threw her bundle on the floor, and sat down in a flaunting 
manner on a stool, crossing her elbows on her knees, and 
looking with a bold defiance at the other two. 

"What odds,i then? What odds, Mrs. Dilber?" said 
the woman. "Every person has a right to take care of 
themselves. He always did ! " 

"That 's true, indeed !" said the laundress. "No man 
more so." 

"Why, then, don't stand staring as if you was afraid, 
woman ! Who 's the wiser? We 're not going to pick holes 
in each other's coats,^ I suppose?" 

"No, indeed!" said Mrs. Dilber and the man together. 
"We should hope not." 

1. What odds. What difference. 

2. Pick holes in each other's coats. Find fault with one another. 



138 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

''Very well, then ! " cried the woman. " That 's enough. 
Who's the worse for the loss of a few things like these? 
Not a dead man, I suppose?" 

''No, indeed," said Mrs. Dilber, laughing. 

" If he wanted to keep 'em after he was dead, a wicked 
old screw, "^ pursued the woman, "why wasn't he natural 
in his lifetime? If he had been he'd have had somebody 
to look after him when he was struck with Death, instead 
of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself." 

"It's the truest word that ever was spoke," said Mrs. 
Dilber. "It's a judgment on him." 

"I wish it was a little heavier judgment," replied the 
woman; "and it should have been, you may depend upon 
it, if I could have laid my hands on anything else. Open 
that bundle, old Joe, and let me know the value of it. 
Speak out plain. I 'm not afraid to be the first, nor afraid 
for them to see it. We knew pretty well that we were help- 
ing ourselves, before we met here, I believe. It 's no sin. 
Open the bundle, Joe." 

But the gallantry of her friends would not allow of this ; 
and the man in faded black, mounting the breach first, ^ 
produced his plunder. It was not extensive. A seal or 
two, a pencil case, a pair of sleeve buttons, and a brooch of 
no great value, were all. They were severally examined 
and appraised by old Joe, who chalked the sums he was dis- 
posed to give for each upon the wall, and added them up 
into a total when he found that there was nothing more 
to come. 

"That's your account," said Joe, "and I wouldn't 
give another sixpence, if I was to be boiled for not doing 
it. Who's next?" 

1. A wicked old screw. An old skinflint; a wicked old sinner. 

2. Mounting the breach first. Coming to the rescue, or saving the 
woman embarrassment, by opening his bundle first. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 139 

Mrs. Dilber was next. Sheets and towels, a little wear- 
ing apparel, two old-fashioned silver teaspoons, a pair of 
sugar tongs, and a few boots. Her account was stated on 
the wall in the same manner. 

" I always give too much to ladies. It 's a weakness of 
mine, and that's the way I ruin myself," said old Joe. 
'' That 's your account. If you asked me for another penny 
and made it an open question, I'd repent of being so 
liberal, and knock off half a crown." 

''And now undo my bundle, Joe," said the first woman. 

Joe went down on his knees for the greater convenience 
of opening it, and, having unfastened a great many knots, 
dragged out a large, heavy roll of some dark stuff. 

"What do you call this?" said Joe. "Bed curtains!" 

"Ah!" returned the woman, laughing and leaning for- 
ward on her crossed arms. "Bed curtains!" 

" You don't mean to say you took 'em down, rings and 
all, with him lying there?" said Joe. 

"Yes, I do," replied the woman. "Why not?" 

"You were born to make your fortune," said Joe, "and 
you '11 certainly do it." 

" I certainly shan't hold my hand, when I can get any- 
thing in it by reaching it out, for the sake of such a man 
as He was, I promise you, Joe," returned the woman 
coolly. '' Don't drop that oil upon the blankets, now." 

"His blankets?" asked Joe. 

"Whose else do you think?" replied the woman. 

"He isn't likely to take cold without 'em, I dare say." 

" I hope he didn't die of anything catching? Eh?" said 
old Joe, stopping in his work, and looking up. 

"Don't be afraid of that," returned the woman. "I 
an't so fond of his company that I 'd loiter about him for 
such things, if he did. Ah ! You may look through that 
shirt till your eyes ache ; but you won't find a hole in it, 



140 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

nor a threadbare place. It's the best he had, and a fine 
one, too. They'd have wasted it, if it hadn't been for 
me." 

''What do you call wasting of it?" asked old Joe. 

''Putting it on him to be buried in, to be sure," replied 
the woman, with a laugh. " Somebody was fool enough to 
do it, but I took it off again. If cahco an't good enough 
for such a purpose, it isn't good enough for anything. 
It 's quite as becoming to the body. He can't look uglier 
than he did in that one." 

Scrooge Hstened to this dialogue in horror. As they 
sat grouped about their spoil, in the scanty light afforded 
by the old man's lamp, he viewed them with a detestation^ 
and disgust which could hardly have been greater though 
they had been obscene demons, marketing the corpse 
itself.2 

" Ha, ha!" laughed the same woman, when old Joe, pro- 
ducing a flannel bag with money in it, told out their several 
gains upon the ground. "This is the end of it, you see! 
He frightened every one away from him when he was 
alive, to profit us when he was dead! Ha, ha, ha!" 

"Spirit!" said Scrooge, shuddering from head to foot. 
" I see, I see. The case of this unhappy man might be my 
own. My hfe tends that way now. Merciful Heaven, 
what is this?" 

He recoiled in terror, for the scene had changed, and 
now he almost touched a bed — a bare, uncurtained bed, on 
which, beneath a ragged sheet, there lay a something cov- 
ered up, which, though it was dumb, announced itself in 
awful language. 

1. Detestation. Extreme dislike; hatred; loathing. 

2. Obscure demons, marketing the corpse itself. Reference is here 
made to grave robbers who disinterred corpses and sold them to 
medical schools. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 141 

The room was very dark, too dark to be observed with 
any accuracy, though Scrooge glanced around it in obedi- 
ence to a secret impulse, anxious to know what kind of 
room it was. A pale light, rising in the outer air, fell 
straight upon the bed; and on it, plundered and bereft, 
unwatched, unwept, uncared for, was the body of this man. 

Scrooge glanced towards the Phantom. Its steady hand 
was pointed to the head. The cover was so carelessly ad- 
justed that the slightest raising of it, the motion of a finger 
upon Scrooge's part, would have disclosed the face. He 
thought of it, felt how easy it would be to do, and longed 
to do it, but had no more power to withdraw the veil than 
to dismiss the spectre at his side. 

Oh, cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar 
here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy 
command; for this is thy dominion! But of the loved, 
revered, and honored head, thou canst not turn one hair 
to thy dread purposes, or make one feature odious. It is 
not that the hand is heavy, and will fall down when re- 
leased ; it is not that the heart and pulse are still : but that 
the hand was open, generous, and true; the heart brave, 
warm, and tender ; and the pulse a man's. Strike, Shadow, 
strike ! And see his good deeds springing from the wound, 
to sow the world with life immortal ! 

No voice pronounced these words in Scrooge's ears, and 
yet he heard them when he looked upon the bed. He 
thought, if this man could be raised up now, what would 
be his foremost thoughts? Avarice, hard dealing, griping 
cares?^ They have brought him to a rich end, truly! 

He lay, in the dark, empty house, with not a man, a 
woman, or a child to say he was kind to me in this or that, 
and for the memory of one kind word I will be kind to 

1. Griping cares. Cares of business that kept him from being 
kind and charitable. 



142 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

him. A cat was tearing at the door, and there was a sound 
of gnawing rats beneath the hearthstone. What they 
wanted in the room of death, and why they were so rest- 
less and disturbed, Scrooge did not dare to think. 

"Spirit!'' he said, ''this is a fearful place. In leaving 
it, I shall not leave its lesson, trust me. Let us go ! " 

Still the Ghost pointed with an unmoved finger to the 
head. 

"I understand you," Scrooge returned, ''and I would do 
it, if I could. But I have not the power. Spirit. I have 
not the power." 

Again it seemed to look upon him. 

"If there is any person in the town who feels emotion 
caused by this man's death," said Scrooge, quite agonized, 
"show that person to me. Spirit, I beseech you!" 

The Phantom spread its dark robe before him for a mo- 
ment, like a wing ; and withdrawing it, revealed a room by 
daylight, where a mother and her children were. 

She was expecting some one, and with anxious eager- 
ness ; for she walked up and down the room ; started at 
every sound ; looked out from the window ; glanced at the 
clock; tried, but in vain, to work with her needle; and 
could hardly bear the voices of her children in their play. 

At length the long-expected knock was heard. She hur- 
ried to the door, and met her husband — a man whose face 
was careworn and depressed, though he was young. There 
was a remarkable expression in it now — a kind of serious 
delight of which he felt ashamed, and which he struggled 
to repress. 

He sat down to the dinner that had been hoarding for 
him by the fire; and when she asked him faintly what 
news (which was not until after a long silence), he ap- 
peared embarrassed how to answer. 

"Is it good," she said, "or bad?" — to help him. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 143 

"Bad," he answered. 

'*We are quite ruined?" 

"No. There is hope yet, Caroline." 

"If he relents," she said, amazed, "there is! Nothing 
is past hope, if such a miracle has happened." 

" He is past relenting, "said her husband . " He is dead . ' ' 

She was a mild and patient creature, if her face spoke 
truth ; but she was thankful in her soul to hear it, and she 
said so, with clasped hands. She prayed forgiveness the 
next moment, and was sorry; but the first was the emo- 
tion of her heart. 

"What a half -drunken woman whom I told you of last 
night said to me, when I tried to see him and obtain a 
week's delay, and what I thought was a mere excuse to 
avoid me, turns out to have been quite true. He was not 
only very ill, but dying, then." 

"To whom will our debt be transferred?" 

" I don't know. But before that time we shall be ready 
with the money ; and even though we were not, it would be 
bad fortune indeed to find so merciless a creditor in his 
successor. We may sleep to-night with light hearts, Caro- 
line!" 

Yes. Soften it as they would, their hearts were lighter. 
The children's faces, hushed and clustered round to hear 
what they so little understood, were brighter ; and it was a 
happier house for this man's death! The only emotion 
that the Ghost could show him, caused by the event, was 
one of pleasure. 

"Let me see some tenderness connected with a death," 
said Scrooge, "or that dark chamber. Spirit, which we left 
just now will be forever present to me." 

The Ghost conducted him through several streets famil- 
iar to his feet; and, as they went along, Scrooge looked 
here and there to find himself, but nowhere was he to be 



144 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

seen. They entered poor Bob Cratchit's house — the dwell- 
ing he had visited before — and found the mother and the 
children seated round the fire. 

Quiet. Very quiet. The noisy little Cratehits were as 
still as statues in one corner, and sat looking up at Peter, 
who had a book before him. The mother and her daugh- 
ters were engaged in sewing. But surely they were very 
quiet. 

"'And he took a child, and set him in the midst of 
them.'"i 

Where had Scrooge heard those words? He had not 
dreamed them. The boy must have read them out as he 
and the Spirit crossed the threshold. Why did he not 
go on? 

The mother laid her work upon the table, and put her 
hand up to her face. 

*'The color hurts my eyes," she said. 

The color? Ah, poor Tiny Tim! 

''They're better now again," said Cratchit's wife. "It 
makes them weak by candlelight; and I wouldn't show 
weak eyes to your father when he comes home, for the 
world. It must be near his time." 

"Past it, rather," Peter answered, shutting up his book. 
^'But I think he has walked a little slower than he used, 
these few last evenings, mother." 

They were very quiet again. At last she said, and in a 
steady, cheerful voice, that only faltered once : 

" I have known him walk with — I have known him walk 
with Tiny Tim upon his shoulders very fast indeed." 

"And so have I," cried Peter. "Often." 

"And so have I," exclaimed another. So had all. 

"But he was very light to carry," she resumed, intent 

1. And he took . . . in the midst of them. See Mark ix, 36. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 145 

upon her work, "and his father loved him so that it was 
no trouble — no trouble. And there is your father at the 
door!" 

She hurried out to meet him ; and little Bob in his com- 
forter — he had need of it, poor fellow — came in. His tea 
was ready for him on the hob, and they all tried who should 
help him to it most. Then the two young Cratehits got 
upon his knees, and laid, each child, a little cheek against 
his face, as if they said, '' Don't mind it, father. Don't be 
grieved!" 

Bob was very cheerful with them, and spoke pleasantly 
to all the family. He looked at the work upon the table, 
and praised the industry and speed of Mrs. Cratchit and 
the girls. They would be done long before Sunday, he 
said. 

''Sunday! You went to-day, then, Robert?" said his 
wife. 

" Yes, my dear," returned Bob. " I wish you could have 
gone. It would have done you good to see how green a 
place it is. But you '11 see it often. I promised him that I 
would walk there on a Sunday. My little, little child!" 
cried Bob. " My little child ! " 

He broke down all at cnce. He couldn't help it. If he 
could have helped it, he and his child would have been far- 
ther apart, perhaps, than they were. 

He left the room, and went upstairs into the room above, 
which was lighted cheerfully, and hung with Christmas. 
There was a chair set close beside the child and there were 
signs of some one having been there lately. Poor Bob sat 
down in it, and when he had thought a little and com- 
posed himself, he kissed the little face. He was reconciled 
to what had happened, and went down again quite happy. 

They drew about the fire, and talked; the girls and 
mother working still. Bob told them of the extraordinary 

—10 



146 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

kindness of Mr. Scrooge's nephew, whom he had scarcely 
seen but once, and who, meeting him in the street that 
day, and seeing that he looked a little — ''just a little down, 
you know," said Bob — inquired what had happened to dis- 
tress him. '' On which," said Bob — ' 'for he is the pkaiant- 
est-spoken gentleman you ever heard — I told him. *I am 
heartily sorry for it, Mr. Cratchit,' he said, 'and heartily 
sorry for your good wife.' By the bye, how he ever knew 
that, I don't know." 

"Knew what, my dear?" 

"Why, that you were a good wife," replied Bob. 

"Everybody knows that," said Peter. 

"Very well observed, my boy!" cried Bob. "I hope 
they do. 'Heartily sorry,' he said, 'for your good wife. If 
I can be of service to you in any way,' he said, giving me 
his card, 'that 's where I live. Pray come to me.' Now it 
wasn't," cried Bob, "for the sake of anything he might be 
able to do for us, so much as for his kind way, that this 
was quite delightful. It really seemed as if he had known 
our Tiny Tim, and felt with us." 

"I 'm sure he's a good soul!" said Mrs. Cratchit. 

"You would be sure of it, dear," returned Bob, "if you 
saw and spoke to him. I shouldn't be at all surprised — • 
mark what I say! — if he got Peter a better situation." 

"Only hear that, Peter," said Mrs. Cratchit. 

"And then," cried one of the girls, "Peter will be keep- 
ing company with some one, and setting up for himself." 

"Get along with you!" retorted Pete, grinning. 

"It's just as likely as not," said Bob, "one of these 
days; though there's plenty of time for that, my dear. 
But, however and whenever we part from one another, I 
am sure we shall none of us forget poor Tiny Tim — shall 
we? — or this first parting that there was among us?" 

"Never, father!" cried they all. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL ^ 147 

"And I know," said Bob — *'I know, my dears, that 
when we recollect how patient and how mild he was, 
although he was a little, little child, we shall not quar- 
rel easily among ourselves, and forget poor Tiny Tim in 
doing it/' 

"No, never father!" they all cried again. 

"I am very happy," said little Bob — "I am very 
happy!" 

Mrs. Cratchit kissed him, his daughters kissed him, the 
two young Cratchits kissed him, and Peter and himself 
shook hands. Spirit of Tiny Tim, thy childish essence^ 
was from God ! 

"Spectre," said Scrooge, ''something informs me that 
our parting moment is at hand. I know it, but I know not 
how. Tell me what man that was whom we saw lying 
dead." 

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come conveyed him, as 
before — though at a different time, he thought; indeed, 
there seemed no order in these latter visions, save that 
they were in the Future — into the resorts of business men, 
but showed him not himself. Indeed, the Spirit did not 
stay for anything, but went straight on, as to the end just 
now desired, until besought by Scrooge to tarry for a mo- 
ment. 

"This court," said Scrooge, "through which we hurry 
now is where my place of occupation is, and has been for a 
length of time. I see the house. Let me behold what I 
shall be, in days to come!" 

The Spirit stopped ; the hand was pointed elsewhere. 

"The house is yonder," Scrooge exclaimed. "Why do 
you point away?" 

The inexorable^ finger underwent no change. 

1. Essence. True underlying character; soul. 

2, Inexorable. Unyielding; relentless. 



148 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Scrooge hastened to the window of his office, and looked 
in. It was an office still, but not his. The furniture was 
not the same, and the figure in the chair was not himself. 
The Phantom pointed as before. 

He joined it once again, and, wondering why and 
whither he had gone, accompanied it until they reached an 
iron gate. He paused to look round before entering. 

A churchyard. Here, then, the wretched man whose 
name he had now to learn lay underneath the ground. It 
was a worthy place. Walled in by houses; overrun by 
grass and weeds, the growth of vegetation's death, not 
life ; choked up with too much burying ; fat with repleted ^ 
appetite. A worthy place ! 

The Spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to 
One. He advanced towards it, trembling. The Phantom 
was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw 
new meaning in its solemn shape. 

''Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point," 
said Scrooge, "answer me one question. Are these the 
shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of 
the things that May be, only?'' 

Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which 
it stood. 

''Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, 
if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if 
the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it 
is thus with what you show me!" 

The Spirit was immovable as ever. 

Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went ; and fol- 
lowing the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected 
grave his own name, Ebenezer Scrooge. 

1. Repleted. Replenished; satisfied. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 14© 

"Am 1 that man who lay upon the bed? " he cried, upon 
his knees. 

The finger pointed from the grave to him, and back 
again. 

"No, Spirit! Oh, no, no! '^ 

The finger still was there. 

"Spirit!" he cried, tight clutching at its robe, "hear 
me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I 
must have been but for this intercourse.^ Why show me 
this, if I am past all hope?'' 

For the first time the hand appeared to shake. 

"Good Spirit," he pursued, as down upon the ground 
he fell before it, "your nature intercedes for^ me, and pities 
me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you 
have shown me, by an altered life!" 

The kind hand trembled. 

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep 
it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and 
the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within 
me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, 
tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!" 

In his agony he caught the spectral hand. It sought to 
free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained 
it. The Spirit, stronger yet, repulsed him. 

Holding up his hands in a last prayer to have his fate 
reversed, he s^w an alteration in the Phantom's hood and 
dress. It shrunk, collapsed, and dwindled down into a 
bedpost. 

1. Intercourse, Acquaintance; intimate connection. 

2. Intercedes for. Begs or pleads for. 



150 classics for the eighth grade 

Stave Five 
the end of it* 

Yes ! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his 
own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the 
Time before him was his own, to make amends in ! 

"I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" 
Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. '*The 
Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Jacob Mar- 
ley ! Heaven and the Christmas Time be praised for this ! 
I say it on my knees, old Jacob; on my knees!'' 

He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good inten- 
tions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his 
call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with 
the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears. 

"They are not torn down," cried Scrooge, folding one of 
his bed curtains in his arms — ''they are not torn down, 
rings and all. They are here — I am here — the shadows of 
the things that would have been may be dispelled.^ They 
will be. I know they will!" 

His hands were busy with his garments all this time; 
turning them inside out, putting them on upside down, 
tearing them, mislaying them, making them parties to 
every kind of extravagance. 

" I don't know what to do ! " cried Scrooge, laughing and 
crying in the same breath, and making a perfect Laocoon^ 
of himself with his stockings. *' I am as light as a feather, 
I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy, 
I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to 

1. Dispelled. Broken up and driven away. 

2. Laocoon (la-6k'o-6n). A son of Priam, King of Troy. He 
angered the gods, who sent two sea serpents, which wound them- 
selves about him and his two sons and crushed them to death. 
Dickens likens Scrooge, with his stocking wound about him, to 
Laocoon with the serpents about him. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 151 

everybody ! A happy New Year to all the world ! Hallo 
here! Whoop! Hallo!" 

He had frisked into the sitting-room, and was now 
standing there, pt^rfectly winded. 

"There's the saucepan that the gruel was in!" cried 
Scrooge, starting off again, and going around the fireplace. 
*' There 's the door by which the Ghost of Jacob Mar ley en- 
tered ! There 's the corner where the Ghost of Christmas 
Present sat ! There 's the window where I saw the wan- 
dering Spirits ! It 's all right, it 's all true, it all happened. 
Ha, ha, ha!" 

Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so 
many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious 
laugh; the father of a long, long line of briUiant laughs. 

''I don't know what day of the month it is," said 
Scrooge. "I don't know how long I have been among the 
Spirits. I don't know anything. I 'm quite a baby. Never 
mind. I don't care. I 'd rather be a baby. Hallo ! Whoop ! 
Hallo here!" 

He was checked in his transports^ by the churches ring- 
ing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. Clash, clash, 
hammer; ding, dong, bell! Bell, dong, ding; hammer, 
clang, clash ! Oh, glorious, glorious ! 

Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his 
head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold ; 
cold, piping for the blood to dance to ; ^ golden sunlight ; 
heavenly sky ; sweet fresh air ; merry bells. Oh, glorious ! 
Glorious ! 

''What's to-day?" cried Scrooge, calling downward to a 
boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look 
about him. 



1. Transports. Very great emotion, 

2. Cold, piping for the blood to dance to. The author thinks of the 
cold as causing the blood to dance. 



152 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

"Eh?" returned the boy, with all his might of wonder. 

''What's to-day, my fine fellow?'' said Scrooge. 

''To-day!" replied the boy. "Why, Christmas Day." 

"It's Christmas Day!" said Scrooge to himself. "I 
haven't missed it. The Spirits have done it all in one 
night. They can do anything they like. Of course they 
can. Of course they can. Hallo, my fine fellow!" 

"Hallo!" returned the boy. 

"Do you know the poulterer's, in the next street but 
one, at the corner?" Scrooge inquired. 

"I should hope I did," replied the lad. 

"An intelligent boy!" said Scrooge. "A remarkable 
boy ! Do you know whether they 've sold the prize turkey 
that was hanging up there? — not the little prize turkey, 
the big one?" 

"What, the one as big as me?" returned the boy. 

"What a delightful boy !" said Scrooge. "It 's a pleasure 
to talk to him. Yes, my buck ! " ^ 

" It 's hanging there now," replied the boy. 

" Is it? " said Scrooge. " Go and buy it." 

"Walk-ER! "2 exclaimed the boy. 

"No, no," said Scrooge, "I am in earnest. Go and buy 
it, and tell 'em to bring it here, that I may give them the 
directions where to take it. Come back with the man, and 
I '11 give you a shilling. Come back with him in less than 
five minutes, and I '11 give you half a crown!" 

The boy was off like a shot. He must have had a steady 
hand at a trigger who could have got a shot off half so fast. 

"I'll send it to Bob Cratchit's," whispered Scrooge, 
rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. " He shanit 
know who sends it. It 's twice the size of Tiny Tim. Joe 

1. Buck. A dashing young fellow; a dandy. 

2. Walk-er. A slang expression of Dickens's time, indicating 
disbelief. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 153 

Miller^ never made such a joke as sending it to Bob's 
will be!" 

The hand in which he wrote the address was not a 
steady one, but write it he did, somehow, and went down- 
stairs to open the street door, ready for the coming of the 
poulterer's man. As he stood there, waiting his arrival, 
the knocker caught his eye. 

'' I shall love it as long as I Uve !" cried Scrooge, patting 
it with his hand. ''I scarcely ever looked at it before. 
What an honest expression it has in its face ! It 's a won- 
derful knocker! — Here's the turkey. Hallo! Whoop! 
How are you? Merry Christmas!" 

It was a turkey. He never could have stood upon his 
legs, that bird. He would have snapped 'em short off in 
a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax. 

"Why, it 's impossible to carry that to Camden Town," 
said Scrooge. "You must have a cab." 

The chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle 
with which he paid for the turkey, and the chuckle with 
which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he 
recompensed^ the boy, were only to be exceeded by the 
chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair 
again, and chuckled till he cried. 

Shaving was not an easy task, for his hand continued 
to shake very much ; and shaving requires attention, even 
when you don't dance while you are at it. But if he had 
cut the end of his nose off, he would have put a piece of 
sticking plaster over it, and been quite satisfied. 

He dressed himself, "all in his best," and at last got out 
into the streets. The people were by this time pouring 
forth, as he had seen them with the Ghost of Christmas 

1. Joe Miller. Joseph Miller was a comic actor (1684-1738), 
whose name was signed to a jest book published in 1739. 

2. Recompensed. Paid. 



154 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Present; and walking with his hands behind him, Scrooge 
regarded every one with a delighted smile. He looked so 
irresistibly pleasant, in a word, that three or four good- 
humored fellows said, "Good morning, sir! A merry 
Christmas to you!" xA-nd Scrooge said often afterwards, 
that of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were 
the blithest in his ears. 

He had not gone far, when, coming on towards him he 
beheld the portly gentleman who had walked into his 
counting-house the day before, and said, ''Scrooge and 
Marley's, I believe?'' It sent a pang across his heart to 
think how this old g entleman would look upon him when 
they met ; but he knew what path lay straight before him, 
and he took it. 

''My dear sir," said Scrooge, quickening his pace, and 
taking the old gentleman by both his hands, "how do you 
do? I hope you succeeded yesterday. It was very kind of 
you. A merry Christmas to you, sir." 

"Mr. Scrooge?" 

"Yes," said Scrooge. "That is my name, and I fear it 
may not be pleasant to you. Allow me to ask your pardon. 
And will you have the goodness" — Here Scrooge whis- 
pered in his ear. 

"Lord bless me!" cried the gentleman, as if his breath 
were taken away. "My dear Mr. Scrooge, are you 
serious?" 

"If you please," said Scrooge. "Not a farthing less. A 
great many back payments are included in it, I assure you. 
Will you do me that favor?" 

"My dear sir," said the other, shaking hands with him, 
"I don't know what to say to such munifi — "^ 

"Don't say anything, please," retorted Scrooge. "Come 
and see me. Will you come and see me?" 

1. Munifi . Munificence; great liberality. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 155 

"I will!" cried the old gentleman. And it was clear he 
meant to do it. 

''Thankee/' said Scrooge. "I am much obliged to you. 
I thank you fifty times. Bless you!" 

He went to church, and walked about the streets, and 
watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted the 
children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked 
down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows ; 
and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He 
had never dreamed that any walk — that anything — could 
give him so much happiness. In the afternoon he turned 
his steps towards his nephew's house. 

He passed the door a dozen times before he had the cour- 
age to go up and knock. But he made a dash, and did it. 

*' Is your master at home, my dear?" said Scrooge to the 
girl. Nice girl ! Very. 

"Yes, sir." 

''Where is he, my love?" said Scrooge. 

" He 's in the dining-room, sir, along with mistress. I '11 
show you upstairs, if you please." 

" Thankee. He knows me," said Scrooge, with his hand 
already on the dining-room lock. "I'll go in here, my 
dear." 

He turned it gently, and sidled his face in, round the 
door. They were looking at the table (which was spread 
out in great array) ; for these young housekeepers are al- 
ways nervous on such points, and like to see that every- 
thing is right. 

"Fred!" said Scrooge. 

Dear heart alive, how his niece by marriage started! 
Scrooge had forgotten, for the moment, about her sitting in 
the comer with the footstool, or he wouldn't have done 
it, on any account. 

"Why, bless my soul!" cried Fred, "who's that?" 



156 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

'* It 's I. Your uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. 
Will you let me in, Fred?" 

Let him in ! It is a mercy he didn't shake his arm off. 
He was at home in five minutes. Nothing could be heart- 
ier. His niece looked just the same. So did Topper when 
he came. So did the plump sister, when she came. So did 
every one, when they came. Wonderful party, wonderful 
games, wonderful imanimity,^ won-der-ful happiness! 

But he was early at the office next morning. Oh, he was 
early there ! If he could only be there first, and catch Bob 
Cratchit coming late ! That was the thing he had set his 
heart upon. 

And he did it ; yes, he did ! The clock struck nine. No 
Bob. A quarter past. No Bob. He was full eighteen 
minutes and a half behind his time. Scrooge sat with his 
door wide open, that he might see him come into the tank. 

His hat was off before he opened the door; his com- 
forter, too. He was on his stool in a jiffy; driving away 
with his pen, as if he were trying to overtake nine o'clock. 

"Hallo!" growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice as 
near as he could feign it. "What do you mean by coming 
here at this time of day?" 

"I am very sorry, sir," said Bob. "I am behind my 
time." 

"You are?" repeated Scrooge. "Yes. I think you are. 
Step this way, sir, if you please." 

"It's only once a year, sir," pleaded Bob, appearing 
from the tank. " It shall not be repeated. I was making 
rather merry yesterday, sir." 

"Now, I '11 tell you what, my friend," said Scrooge; "I 
am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And 
therefore," he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving 

1. Unanimity. Oneness of spirit. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 157 

Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into 
the tank again — ''and therefore, I am about to raise your 
salary!'' 

Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. He 
had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it, 
holding him, and calling to the people in the court for help 
and a strait- waistcoat. ^ 

''A merry Christmas, Bob!" said Scrooge, with an 
earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him 
on the back. *' A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, 
than I have given you for many a year ! I '11 raise your 
salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and 
we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a 
Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, ^ Bob ! Make up the 
fires, and buy another coal scuttle before you dot another i, 
BobCratchit!" 

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and in- 
finitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was 
a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a 
master, and as good a man as the good old city knew, or 
any other good old city, town, or borough^ in the good old 
world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him ; 
but he let them laugh, and little heeded them ; for he was 
wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this 
globe, for good, at which some people did not have their 
fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as 
these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well 
that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins as have the 

1. Strait-waistcoat. Strait-jacket; a coat of strong material for 
restraining madmen. 

2. Bishop. A kind of wine flavored with oranges or lemons and 
sweetened with sugar. 

3. Borough. A political division of a country organized for the 
purpose of self-government. 



158 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed, 
and that was quite enough for him. 

He had no further intercoiu*se with Spirits, but lived 
upon the Total Abstinence Principle^ ever afterwards ; and 
it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christ- 
mas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May 
that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny 

Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One ! 

— Charles Dickens. 

EXERCISES 
Stave One 

1. Words for definition and study: ironmongery, simile, covet- 
ous, generous, palpable, phantoms. Parliament, ridiculous, cor- 
dially, shillings, bedlam, treadmill, endeavoring, establishments, 
anonymous, facetious, tremulous, misanthropic, pageant, regale, 
tacitly, deceased, knocker, phenomenon, fire-guard, transparent, 
incredulous, shade, appropriate, deuce, infernal, legion, goblins, 
factions, susceptible, procuring, supernatural, incoherent. 

2. What kind of man was Scrooge at the beginning of this 
story? Quote from the story to support your view. 

3. Why had Scrooge retained Marley's name in the firm name 
after Marley's death? 

4. Describe Scrooge's physical appearance. How does the 
author account for this appearance? 

5. Explain, "He iced his office in dog-days and didn't thaw it 
one degree at Christmas." 

6. Why was Scrooge avoided by all classes of people? How 
did he feel because people left him so much alone? 

7. Compare Scrooge's nephew's idea of Christmas with Scrooge's 
idea of it. 

8. Explain, "the clerk, who, cold as he was, was warmer than 
Scrooge." 

9. What does Scrooge's conversation with the two "portly 
gentlemen" reveal about the way the poor in England were pro- 
vided for in Dickens' time? 

10. What is there particularly appropriate about Marley's ghost 
appearing to Scrooge in Scrooge's rooms and on Christmas eve? 

1. Lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle. "Total Abstinence" 
usually refers to the strict abstaining from the use of intoxicating 
liquors. Scrooge lived such a good life that he never afterward had 
need for "spirits." 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 159 

11. What is there significant about the ghost's being first heard 
in the cellar? 

12. Of what was the chain of Marley's ghost made? Why? 

13. Explain, "particular for a shade . . . to a. shade." 

14. Explain, "there's more of gravy than of grave about you." 

15. When the ghost first appeared what did Scrooge think it 
was? 

16. Why does Marley's ghost call Scrooge, " Man of the worldly 
mind"? 

17. What reason does Marley's ghost give for walking about 
and visiting men? 

18. In what way had Marley forged the chain, in life, which 
fettered his spirit after death? 

19. What is the great cause for regret on the part of Marley's 
spirit? 

20. What does Marley's ghost say was his business when he was 
on earth? 

21. What caused the misery of the ghosts that Scrooge saw when 
he followed Marley's ghost to the window? 

Stave Two 

1. Words for definition and study: opaque, preposterous, 
mature, visitation, propositions, lustrous, fluctuated, stature, 
"bonneted," pedestrian, shaggy, jocund, weathercock-surmounted, 
retention, extraordinary, instalments, thoroughfare, jovial, fellow- 
'prentice, forfeits, "cut," deftly, sordid, fraught, pillaged, brigands, 
haggard, adversary. 

2. Why is the Ghost of Christmas Past (Scrooge's past) described 
as resembling both a child and an old man? 

3. Describe fully the appearance of the Ghost of Christmas 
Past. 

4. Explain, "I am a mortal, and liable to fall." 

6. Where did the Ghost of Christmas Past first conduct Scrooge? 

6. Who was the boy Scrooge saw in the school house? What 
was he doing? 

7. In what did Scrooge take delight when he was a boy at 
school? 

8. Why did Scrooge pity his former self as he saw him at the 
school? 

9. Why did Scrooge at this time wish that he had been kinder 
to the boy who sang the Christmas Carol at his door the night 
before? 

10. Why does Dickens tell of Scrooge's sister coming for him at 
the holidays? 

11. Describe the boy Scrooge who was apprenticed to old 
Fezziwig. 



160 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

12. In which scene do we first become aware of a change in 
Scrooge's former self? 

13. What are the evidences of this change? What had brought 
the change about? 

14. Was the young lady right in breaking her engagement with 
Scrooge? Give reasons for your answer. 

15. Compare the picture of the home of the lady as given in the 
next scene, with the picture of Scrooge's home. 

16. Why was it impossible for Scrooge to hide the light of 
"Christmas Past"? 

Stave Three 

1. Words for definition and study: prodigiously, apprehensive, 
spontaneous combustion, luscious, artifice, demeanor, scabbard, 
compulsion, wanton, mistletoe, gratis, daws, luxurious, credulity, 
eked, heresy, adamant, cant, odious, plaintive, cosy, desolation, 
caverns, affability, infection, whims, competent, aromatic, identity, 
inaudible. 

2. What was the purpose of the light and of the delay before 
the appearance of the Ghost of "Christmas Present"? 

3. Describe the Ghost of " Christmas Present," and its sur- 
roundings when Scrooge entered the room. 

4. Give reason for the joyousness and merriment of the people 
wherever the Ghost of Christmas Present went. 

5. Describe the shops of the poulterers, the fruiterers, and the 
grocers. How did they differ from similar shops of the present? 

6. What was the reason for so great rejoicing at the Cratchit's 
on Christmas Day? Why is the dinner described in detail? 

7. Explain Bob's tenderness and solicitude for Tiny Tim. 

8. Why does Bob refer to Scrooge as the "Founder of the 
Feast"? 

9. Explain why the Cratchits were happy in spite of the hard 
condition in which they lived? 

10. In what ways was Christmas as Dickens describes it similar 
to the Christmas of to-day? 

11. What was the object in taking Scrooge to the miner's hut 
and on board ship? 

12. Why did they visit Scrooge's nephew? 

13. What did Scrooge learn at his nephew's about what other 
people thought of him? 

14. What was Scrooge missing by refusing to take dinner with 
his nephew at Christmas? How was this loss revealed to him? 

15. What is shown about Scrooge by his being able to forget 
himself and join in the sports? 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL 161 

Stave Four 

1. Words for definition and study: shrouded, spectral, chinked, 
pendulous, excrescence, slipshod, disgorged, frowzy, flaunting, 
loiter, accuracy, dominion, relenting, creditor, heartily, essence, 
resorts, inexorable, repleted, collapsed, dwindled. 

2. Why was the "Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" a much 
more frightful apparition than either of the others? Why did it 
not speak? 

3. About whom were the men on 'Change talking when Scrooge 
and the "Ghost" stopped to listen? 

4. What is shown in these conversations concerning the attitude 
of Scrooge's business associates toward him? 

5. What was the attitude of the criminal classes toward Scrooge? 
Why was this? 

6. Who was the greater sinner, Scrooge or the woman who 
robbed the corpse and the bed on which it lay? Give reasons for 
your answer. 

7. Why was there no one to say a kind word of the one who 
was dead? 

8. Why was the identity of the corpse not revealed to Scrooge? 

9. What was the difference, as revealed to Scrooge, between 
the death of this man and the death of a generous, brave-hearted 
man? 

10. Why did Scrooge wish to see some one who felt emotion as 
a result of this man's death? 

11. What did he find when such persons were shown to him? 

12. Compare Tiny Tim's home as a house of death with the 
other death chamber described in this Stave. 

13. Why was Bob Cratchit able to say, "I am very happy," 
when Tiny Tim was dead? 

14. What lessons had they all learned from Tiny Tim? 

15. What is indicated by the trembling of the "Ghost's" finger 
when Scrooge pleads so hard for another chance? 

Stave Five 

1. Words for definition and study: dispelled, illustrious, trans- 
ports, recompensed, blithe, munificence, unanimity, borough, alter- 
ation. 

2. What does Scrooge mean by saying, "I will live in the past, 
the present, and the future"? 

3. Why was Scrooge extremely happy on Christmas morning? 

4. What are the evidences that Scrooge was a greatly changed 
man? 

5. Why did Scrooge take so much pleasure in his own generous 
acts? 

—11 



162 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

6. What had been wrong with Scrooge's nature when he fell 
asleep on Christmas eve? 

7. What evidences are there in the story that Scrooge's nature 
had changed? 

8. What had brought about the wrong in him? 

9. What was the purpose of the visit of "Marley's ghost"? 

10. What was the purpose of the visit of the " Ghost of Christ- 
mas Past"? 

11. What was the purpose of the visit of the "Ghost of Christ- 
mas Present"? 

12. What was the purpose of the visit of the "Ghost of Christ- 
mas Yet to Come"? 

13. Which "Ghost" do you think had most to do in producing 
the change in Scrooge? Why? 

14. What do you regard as the real spirit of Christmas? 

15. What in the story indicates that this spirit is a universal 



spirit 



EVANGELINE 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ^1807-1882) was born at 
Portland, Maine. His father was a member of the United States 
House of Representatives. His mother was the daughter of General 
Wadsworth, one of the commanders in the Revolutionary War, 
and through her Longfellow could trace his lineage back to Priscilla 
and John Alden, who came over with the Pilgrims in the Mayflower. 

Longfellow is described as a model child who grew up under ideal 
conditions. His early education was such as to bring out the finest 
qualities in him. He was studious in disposition, and was early 
encouraged to read the best poetry. As a child he was fond of 
Irving's "Sketch Book." He secured his early education at Port- 
land, and entered Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, in 1822. 
He had for classmates J. S. C. Abbott, the historian, Nathaniel 
Hawthorne, the novelist, and Franklin Pierce, who afterwards be- 
came President of the United States. Longfellow had begun writing 
poems before he entered college, and continued writing through his 
college days. 

Upon his graduation the trustees of Bowdoin College, having 
decided to establish a chair of modern languages, selected Long- 
fellow to fill the position, and proposed that he travel and study in 
Europe to fit himself for the work. He spent three years in Europe, 



EVANGELINE 163 

traveling and studying in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. In a 
remarkably short time he mastered the language of each country 
he visited, and acquired from his study much of culture, which he 
was able to transmit to his students in this country. 

After five years at Bowdoin, Longfellow was elected to the chair 
of modern languages in Harvard College. After a year spent in 
Europe in preparation, he took up his work at Harvard. He lived 
in the historic Craigie House, which had been Washington's head- 
quarters when he was in command of the American army before 
the evacuation of Boston. For twenty years Longfellow filled the 
professorship of modern languages at Harvard. It was during this 
time that he produced his best writings. In 1856 he resigned his 
position at Harvard, being succeeded by James Russell Lowell. 
The remainder of his life was spent in quiet study, in making trans- 
lations, and in writing poetry. 

Two years after Longfellow's death his bust was placed in the 
poet's corner in Westminster Abbey. He is the only American poet 
to whom this high tribute has been paid. 

Longfellow's study of the language and literature of the Old 
World countries made him familiar with the rich fund of legends 
and folklore stories of those countries, and he used many of these 
as material for his poems. What is more important, this study 
prompted him to seek out and to put into permanent literary form 
the best that could be found of legend and story in our own country. 
As a result of this he gave us "Hiawatha," "The Courtship of 
Miles Standish," "Paul Revere's Ride," and "Evangeline." 

Evangeline is a story of the quaint, rural people who lived in 
Acadia, or Novia Scotia, at the beginning of the French and Indian 
War. Acadia was settled by the French. By the Treaty of Utrecht, 
between France and England, in 1713, it was ceded to the English, 
and its name was changed to Nova Scotia. The inhabitants were 
French, and shared the bitter feeling of the French people toward 
the English, who now became their rulers. They refused to take 
the oath of allegiance to England. At the time of King George's 
War (1744-1748) their sympathies were with the French, and they 
gave to the French what aid they could, even though they were 
subjects of the King of Great Britain. In 1755, when the French 
and Indian War began, they had in no way changed their attitude 
toward the English people. French emissaries from Quebec, which 
at that time belonged to France, continually stirred them up against 
the English, and they continued to refuse to take an unqualified 



164 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

oath of allegiance to King George. The English regarded this 
condition as dangerous to them at the beginning of a war which was 
to determine whether England or France should rule in America. 
In 1755 the Acadians were given a last opportunity to take an 
unqualified oath of allegiance to England, and on their refusal to 
do so, an order was made for the confiscation of their lands and 
property, and for their removal from their homes. This order was 
executed in September, 1755, and the Acadians were scattered 
among the English colonies in America. Notwithstanding the fact 
that care was taken by the British and Colonial officers to prevent 
the separation of families, many cases of separation occurred. 
This poem recites one such separation. 

Evangeline recounts the life history of Gabriel and Evangeline, 
two Acadian lovers, who, at the time of the exile, were placed on 
different ships and taken to different parts of the country. How 
Evangeline set out to find her lover, and continued the search until 
she had followed him over half a continent, and how her search was 
at last rewarded, is a story of the "beauty and strength of a woman's 
devotion," told by Longfellow in a manner so delightful that it is 
one of the richest legacies of our literature. 

EVANGELINE 

PRELUDE 

This is the forest primeval.^ The murmuring pines and 

the hemlocks, 
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in 

the twilight. 
Stand like Druids^ of eld,^ with voices sad and prophetic, 
Stand like harpers hoar,^ with beards that rest on their 

bosoms. 

1. The forest primeval. The forest as it had stood from the first, 
undisturbed by the hand of man. 

2. Druids. Priests among the ancient Celtic people of Gaul, 
Britain and Germany. They lived and worshipped in forests, the 
oak tree and mistletoe being held sacred by them. 

3. Eld. Old. 

4. Harpers hoar. An allusion to the minstrels of medieval times, 
who were generally old men with long white hair and white beards. 



EVANGELINE 165 

Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring 

ocean 
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the 

forest. 

This is the forest primeval; but where are the hearts 

that beneath it 
Leaped like the roe,^ when he hears in the woodland the 

voice of the huntsman? 
Where is the thatch-roofed village, ^ the home of Acadian 

farmers, — 
Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the wood- 
lands. 
Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of 

heaven? 
Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers forever 

departed ! 
Scattered like dust and leaves, when the mighty blasts of 

October 
Seize them, and whirl them aloft, and sprinkle them far 

o'er the ocean. 
Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful village of 

Grand-Pre.^ 

Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and 

is patient, 
Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's 

devotion. 
List to the mournful tradition, still sung by the pines of 

the forest ; 
List to a Tale of Love in Acadie, home of the happy. 

1. Roe. The roebuck or male deer. 

2. Thatch-roofed village. A village in which the houses have 
roofs made of straw, rushes, reeds, or similar material, so arranged 
as to shed water. 

3. Grand-Pre (graN-pra')- [French.] Literally, big meadow. 



166 classics for the eighth grade 

Part the First 
I 

In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of 

Minas/ 
Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand-Pre 
Lay in the fruitful valley. Vast meadows stretched to the 

eastward. 
Giving the village its name, and pasture to flocks without 

number. 
Dikes, that the hands of the farmers had raised with labor 

incessant. 
Shut out the turbulent tides ;- but at stated seasons the 

flood-gates^ 
Opened, and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the 

meadows. 
West and south there were fields of flax, and orchards and 

cornfields 
Spreading afar and unfenced o'er the plain; and away to 

the northward 
Blomidon^ rose, and the forests old, and aloft on the 

mountains 
Sea-fogs pitched their tents, ^ and mists from the mighty 

Atlantic 

1. Basin of Minas (mi'nas). An eastern extension of the Bay of 
Fundy. 

2. Turbulent tides. The tides in the Bay of Fundy often rise to 
the height of fifty feet. 

3. Flood-gates. Gates in the dikes for letting the water in or out. 

4. Blomidon (blom'i-dwn). A rocky cape or headland in the Bay 
of Fundy at the entrance to the Basin of Minas. 

5. Sea-fogs pitched their tents. Fogs and mists hang over the 
ocean about the coast of Nova Scotia as they do about Newfound- 
land. They are caused by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream 
meeting the cold currents from the north. 



EVANGELINE 167 

Looked on the happy valley, but ne'er from their station 

descended. 
There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian 

village. 
Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of 

hemlock, 
Such as the peasants of Normandy^ built in the reign of 

the Henries.' 
Thatched were the roofs, with dormer-windows;^ and 

gables projecting 
Over the basement below protected and shaded the door- 
way. 
There in the tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly 

the sunset 
Lighted the village street, and gilded the vanes on the 

chimneys, 
Matrons and maidens sat in snow-white caps and in 

Idrtles^ 
Scarlet and blue and green, with distaffs^ spinning the 

golden 
Flax for the gossiping looms, whose noisy shuttles^ within 

doors 
Mingled their sound with the whir of the wheels and the 

songs of the maidens. 

1. Normandy. A province in Northwestern France from which 
many of the Acadians came. 

2. Reign of the Henries. Henry II., Henry III., and Henry IV. 
reigned in France in the latter part of the sixteenth century. 

3. Dormer-windows. Vertical windows placed in small gables 
rising from a sloping roof. 

4. Kirtles. Women's gowns, or dresses; short skirts worn as outer 
garments. 

5. Distaffs. Staffs for holding bunches of flax, tow, or wool, from 
which thread is spun by the spinning wheel or by hand. 

6. Shuttles. Instruments used in weaving for passing or shoot- 
ing the cross thread between the threads running lengthwise. 



168 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Solemnly down the street came the parish priest, and the 

children 
Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless 

them. 
Reverend walked he among them; and up rose matrons 

and maidens, 
Hailing his slow approach with words of affectionate wel- 
come. 
Then came the laborers home from the field, and serenely 

the sun sank 
Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed. Anon from the 

belfry 
Softly the Angelus^ sounded, and over the roofs of the 

village 
Columns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense ascend- 
ing, 
Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and 

contentment. 
Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers, — 
Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they 

free from 
Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of 

republics. 
Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their 

windows ; 
But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of 

the owners ; 
There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in 

abundance. 

1. Angelus. The bell rung in Roman Catholic countries at 
morning, noon and night to call the people to prayer in commemo- 
ration of the visit of the "Angel " of God to the Virgin Mary is called 
the Angelus. The term Angelus is also applied to the prayer. 



EVANGELINE 169 

Somewhat apart from the village, and nearer the Basin 

of Minas, 
Benedict Belief ontaine/ the wealthiest farmer of Grand- 

Pre, 
Dwelt on his goodly acres; and with him, directing his 

household, 
Gentle Evangeline lived, his child, and the pride of the 

village. 
Stalworth^ and stately in form was the man of seventy 

winters ; 
Hearty and hale was he, an oak that is covered with snow- 
flakes ; 
White as the snow were his locks, and his cheeks as 

brown as the oak-leaves. 
Fair was she to behold, that maiden of seventeen summers. 
Black were her eyes as the berry that grows on the thorn 

by the wayside. 
Black, yet how softly they gleamed beneath the brown 

shade of her tresses ! 
Sweet was her breath as the breath of kine that feed in the 

meadows. 
When in the harvest heat she bore to the reapers at noon- 
tide 
Flagons^ of home-brewed ale,^ ah ! fair in sooth was the 

maiden. 
Fairer was she when, on Sunday morn, while the bell from 

its turret 
Sprinkled with holy sounds the air, as the priest with his 

hyssop^ 

1. Benedict Belief ontaine (ben'e-dikt bel-fSx-ten'). 

2. Stalworih (storwurth). Stalwart. Bold, brave, strong. 

3. Flagons. Vessels for holding liquor. 

4. Ale. A fermented liquor made from malt, and usually, hops. 

5. The priest with his hyssop. In Catholic churches the priest 
sprinkles the holy water over the people with a brush. The Jews 
used the hyssop plant in their purification ceremonies. 



170 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Sprinkles the congregation, and scatters blessings upon 
them, 

Down the long street she passed, with her chaplet of beads^ 
and her missal,^ 

Wearing her Norman cap, and her kirtle of blue, and the 
ear-rings. 

Brought in the olden time from France, and since, as an 
heirloom. 

Handed down from mother to child, through long genera- 
tions. 

But a celestial brightness — a more ethereaP beauty — 

Shone on her face and encircled her form, when, after 
confession, 

Homeward serenely she walked with God's benediction 
upon her. 

When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of ex- 
quisite music. 

Firmly builded with rafters of oak, the house of the 

farmer 
Stood on the side of a hill commanding the sea;* and a 

shady 
Sycamore grew by the door, with a woodbine wreathing 

around it. 
Rudely carved was the porch, with seats beneath; and a 

footpath 
Led through an orchard wide, and disappeared in the 

meadow. 

1. Chaplet of heads. A string of fifty-five beads, a third of a 
rosary, used by Roman Catholics in counting prayers. 

2. Missal. A book containing the Catholic service for the entire 
year; a mass book. 

3. Ethereal. Spiritlike. 

4. Commanding the sea. Overlooking the sea. 



EVANGELINE 171 

Under the sycamore-tree were hives overhung by a pent- 
house, 

Such as the traveler sees in regions remote by the road- 
side, 

Built o'er a box for the poor,^ or the blessed image of Mary. 

Farther down, on the slope of the hill, was the well with 
its moss-grown 

Bucket, fastened with iron, and near it a trough for the 
horses. 

Shielding the house from storms, on the north, were the 
barns and the farm-yard. 

There stood the broad-wheeled wains and the antique 
plows and harrows ; 

There were the folds for the sheep; and there, in his 
feathered seraglio,^ 

Strutted the lordly turkey, and crowed the cock, with the 
selfsame 

Voice that in ages of old had startled the penitent Peter. ^ 

Bursting with hay were the barns, themselves a village. 
In each one 

Far o'er the gable projected a roof of thatch ; and a stair- 
case, 

Under the sheltering eaves, led up to the odorous corn-loft. 

There too the dove-cot stood, with its meek and innocent 
inmates 

Murmuring ever of love; while above in the variant^ 
breezes 

1. Built o'er a box for the poor. In some Roman Catholic countries 
shrines sheltering images of the Virgin Mary, or crucifixes, or boxes 
to receive alms for the poor, are often seen by the roadside. 

2. Seraglio (se-ral'yo)- A harem; a place for keeping wives. 

3. Penitent Peter. See Matthew xxiv, 74, 75. 

4. Variant. Changing; varying. 



172 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Numberless noisy weathercocks^ rattled and sang of 
mutation.2 

Thus, at peace with God and the world, the farmer of 

Grand-Pre 
Lived on his sunny farm, and Evangeline governed his 

household. 
Many a youth, as he knelt in church and opened his 

missal. 
Fixed his eyes upon her as the saint of his deepest devotion ; 
Happy was he who might touch her hand or the hem of 

her garment ! 
Many a suitor came to her door, by the darkness be- 
friended, 
And, as he knocked and waited to hear the sound of her 

footsteps. 
Knew not which beat the louder, his heart or the knocker 

of iron ; 
Or at the joyous feast of the Patron Saint^ of the village. 
Bolder grew, and pressed her hand in the dance as he 

whispered 
Hurried words of love, that seemed a part of the music. 
But, among all who came, young Gabriel only was welcome ; 
Gabriel Lajeunesse,^ the son of Basil the blacksmith. 
Who was a mighty man in the village, and honored of all 

men; 
For, since the birth of time, throughout all ages and 

nations, 

1. Weathercocks. Devices to show the direction of the wind. 
They are called weathercocks because they were originally made 
in the form of a cock. 

2. Mutation. Change. 

3. Patron Saint. The saint regarded as the protector of the 
village. 

4. Lajeunesse (la-zhe-nes'). 



EVANGELINE 173 

Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the 
people. 

Basil was Benedict's friend. Their children from earliest 
childhood 

Grew up together as brother and sister; and Father 
Felician/ 

Priest and pedagogue both in the village, had taught 
them their letters 

Out of the selfsame book, with the hymns of the church 
and the plain-song. ^ 

But when the hymn was sung, and the daily lesson com- 
pleted, 

Swiftly they hurried away to the forge of Basil the black- 
smith. 

There at the door they stood, with wondering eyes to 
behold him 

Take in his leathern lap the hoof of the horse as a play- 
thing, 

Nailing the shoe in its place ; while near him the tire of the 
cart-wheel 

Lay like a fiery snake, coiled round in a circle of cinders.^ 

Oft on autumnal eves, when without in the gathering 
darkness 

Bursting with light seemed the smithy, through every 
cranny and crevice. 

Warm by the forge within they watched the laboring 
bellows, 

1. Felician (fe-lishl-an). 

2. Plain-song. A chant used in the Catholic Church. The music 
is of the simplest kind, and is not subject to the strict rules of time. 

3. The tire of the cart wheel ... a circle of cinders. The 
blacksmith first expanded the tire by heating it in a fire on the 
ground. The tire was then slipped on the wheel. It contracted 
upon cooling, gripping the wheel so tightly that it would not come off. 



174 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

And as its panting ceased, and the sparks expired in the 

ashes, 
Merrily laughed, and said they were nuns going into the 

chapel. 
Oft on sledges in winter, as swift as the swoop of the eagle, 
Down the hillside bounding, they glided away o'er the 

meadow. 
Oft in the barns they climbed to the populous nests on the 

rafters. 
Seeking with eager eyes that wondrous stone, which the 

swallow 
Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of its 

fledglings ; ^ 
Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the 

swallow ! 
Thus passed a few swift years, and they no longer were 

children. 
He was a valiant youth, and his face, like the face of the 

morning, 
Gladdened the earth with its light, and ripened thought 

into action. 
She was a woman now, with the heart and hopes of a 

woman. 
''Sunshine of Saint EulaUe"^ was she called; for that was 

the sunshine 



1. The wondrous stone of its fledgelings. "If the eyes 
of one of the young of a swallow be put out, the mother bird will 
bring from the sea-shore a little stone, which will immediately 
restore its sight; fortunate is the person who finds this little stone 
in the nest, for it is a miraculous remedy." Pluquet, Contes Popu- 
laires, quoted by Wright, Literature and Superstitions of England 
in the Middle Ages, I. 128. 

2. Saint Eulalie (u-la-le')- Saint Eulalie was a female martyr of 
the early church. An old proverb says, "If the sun shines on Saint 
Eulalie's Day (February 12), there will be plenty of apples and 
cider enough." 



EVANGELINE 175 

Which, as the farmers believed, would load their orchards 

with apples; 
She, too, would bring to her husband's house delight and 

abundance, 
Filling it with love and the ruddy faces of children. 

II 

Now had the season returned, when the nights grow 

colder and longer. 
And the retreating sun the sign of the Scorpion^ enters. 
Birds of passage sailed through the leaden air, from the 

ice-bound. 
Desolate northern bays to the shores of tropical islands. 
Harvests were gathered in; and wild with the winds of 

September 
Wrestled the trees of the forest, as Jacob of old with the 

angel. 2 
All the signs foretold a winter long and inclement. 
Bees, with prophetic instinct of want, had hoarded their 

honey 
Till the hives overflowed ; and the Indian hunters asserted 
Cold would the winter be, for thick was the fur of the 

foxes. 
Such was the advent of autumn. Then followed that 

beautiful season. 
Called by the pious Acadian peasants the Summer of All- 
Saints I^ 

1. Sign of the Scorpion. The eighth of the twelve signs of the 
zodiac, or belt in the heavens, through which the sun passes in its 
apparent yearly course. It is entered by the sun October 23. 

2. As Jacob of old with the angel. See Genesis xxxii, 24. 

3. Summer of All-Saints. Indian summer. In Acadia this period 
of weather occurs during the latter part of October and the early 
part of November. It takes the name Summer of All-Saints from 
All-Saints Day, November 1. 



176 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and 

the landscape 
Lay as if new-created in all the freshness of childhood. 
Peace seemed to reign upon earth, and the restless heart 

of the ocean 
Was for a moment consoled. All sounds were in harmony 

blended. 
Voices of children at play, the crowing of cocks in the 

farm-yards, 
Whir of wings in the drowsy air, and the cooing of pigeons. 
All were subdued and low as the murmurs of love, and the 

great sun 
Looked with the eye of love through the golden vapors 

around him; 
While arrayed in its robes of russet and scarlet and yellow, 
Bright with the sheen of the dew, each glittering tree of 

the forest 
Flashed like the plane-tree^ the Persian adorned with 

mantles and jewels. 

Now recommenced the reign of rest and affection and 

stillness. 
Day with its burden and heat had departed, and twilight 

descending 
Brought back the evening star to the sky, and the herds 

to the homestead. 
Pawing the ground they came, and resting their necks on 

each other. 
And with their nostrils distended inhaling the freshness of 

evening. 
Foremost, bearing the bell, Evangeline's beautiful heifer, 

1. Plane-tree. A tropical tree with wide leaves and spreading 
form. The Persian King Xerxes admired a beautiful plane-tree so 
much that he adorned it with fine robes and jewels and placed a 
soldier to guard it. 



EVANGELINE 177 

Proud of her snow-white hide, and the ribbon that waved 

from her collar, 
Quietly paced and slow, as if conscious of human affection. 
Then came the shepherd back with his bleating flocks from 

the seaside. 
Where was their favorite pasture. Behind them followed 

the watch-dog, 
Patient, full of importance, and grand in the pride of bis 

instinct, 1 
Walking from side to side with a lordly air, and superbly 
Waving his bushy tail, and urging forward the stragglers ; 
Regent- of flocks was he when the shepherd slept; their 

protector. 
When from the forest at night, through the starry silence 

the wolves howled. 
Late, with the rising moon, returned the wains from the 

marshes. 
Laden with briny hay, that filled the air with its odor. 
Cheerily neighed the steeds, with dew on their manes and 

their fetlocks. 
While aloft on their shoulders the wooden and ponderous 

saddles,^ 
Painted with brilliant dyes, and adorned with tassels of 

crimson. 
Nodded in bright array, like hollyhocks heavy with 

blossoms. 
Patiently stood the cows meanwhile, and yielded their 

udders 

1. His instinct. The watch-dog's instinct gives him the ability 
to control and protect the sheep. 

2. Regent. One who governs a kingdom during the childhood, 
absence or disability of the regular ruler. 

3. Saddles. Arched supports on the horse's harness, across the 
back, behind the shoulders. The check-rein hooks and the rings 
through which the lines pass are mounted on them. 

—12 



178 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Unto the milkmaid's hand; whilst loud and in regular 

cadence 
Into the sounding pails the foaming streamlets descended. 
Lowing of cattle and peals of laughter were heard in the 

farm-yard, 
Echoed back by the barns. Anon they sank into stillness ; 
Heavily closed, with a jarring sound, the valves^ of the 

barn-doors. 
Rattled the wooden bars, and all for a season was silent. 

In-doors, warm by the wide-mouthed fireplace, idly the 

farmer 
Sat in his elbow-chair and watched how the flames and 

the smoke-wreaths 
Struggled together like foes in a burning city. Behind him. 
Nodding and mocking along the wall, with gestures 

fantastic, 
Darted his own huge shadow, and vanished away into 

darkness. 
Faces, clumsily carved in oak, on the back of his arm- 
chair 
Laughed in the flickering light; and the pewter^ plates on 

the dresser^ 
Caught and reflected the flame, as shields of armies the 

sunshine. 
Fragments of song the old man sang, and carols of Christ- 
mas, 
Such as at home, in the olden time, his fathers before him 

1. Valves. The leaves or wings of double doors. 

2. Pewter. An alloy consisting chiefly of tin and lead. It was 
used to make plates, spoons and tankards. 

3. Dresser, A cupboard for dishes and cooking utensils. 



EVANGELINE 179 

Sang in their Norman orchards ana bright Burgundian 

vineyards.^ 
Close at her father's side was the gentle Evangeline seated, 
Spinning flax for the loom, that stood in the corner behind 

her. 
Silent awhile were its treadles, at rest was its diligent 

shuttle, 
While the monotonous drone of the wheel, like the drone 

of a bagpipe, 2 
Followed the old man's song and united the fragments 

together. 
As in a church, when the chant of the choir at intervals 

ceases. 
Footfalls are heard in the aisles, or words of the priest at 

the altar. 
So, in each pause of the song, with measured motion the 

clock clicked. 

Thus as they sat, there were footsteps heard, and, 

suddenly lifted. 
Sounded the wooden latch, and the door swung back on 

its hinges. 
Benedict knew by the hob-nailed shoes^ it was Basil the 

blacksmith, 
And by her beating heart Evangeline knew who was with 

him. 
*' Welcome!" the farmer exclaimed, as their footsteps 

paused on the threshold, 

1. Burgundian vineyards. Burgundy was an old province in the 
eastern central part of France. It was famous for its vineyards and 
its wines. 

2. Drone of the bagpipe. The continuous low or bass tones ac- 
companying the melody of the bagpipe. These tones are produced 
by pipes called drones. 

3. Hoh-uailed shoes. Shoes whose soles are protected by short 
nails with wide heads. 



180 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

"Welcome, Basil, my friend! Come, take thy place on 

the settle^ 
Close by the chimney-side, which is always empty with- 
out thee ; 
Take from the shelf overhead thy pipe and the box of 

tobacco ; 
Never so much thyself art thou as when through the 

curling 
Smoke of the pipe or the forge thy friendly and jovial face 

gleams 
Round and red as the harvest moon^ through the mist of 

the marshes. " 
Then, with a smile of content, thus answered Basil the 

blacksmith, 
Taking with easy air the accustomed seat by the fireside: — 
"Benedict Belief ontaine, thou hast ever thy jest and thy 

ballad! 
Ever in cheerfullest mood art thou, when others are filled 

with 
Gloomy forebodings of ill, and see only ruin before them. 
Happy art thou, as if every day thou hadst picked up a 

horseshoe." 
Pausing a moment, to take the pipe that Evangeline 

brought him. 
And with a coal from the embers had lighted, he slowly 

continued : — 
" Four days now are passed since the English ships at their 

anchors 
Ride in the Gaspereau's^ mouth, with their cannon pointed 

against us. 

1. Settle. A seat. 

2. Harvest moon. The moon near the full at the time of harvest, 
or just after the autumnal equinox. 

3. Gasper eau (gas-pe-ro). A river in Acadia, near the mouth of 
which was the village of Grand-Pre. 



EVANGELINE 181 

What their design may be is unknown; but all are com- 
manded 
On the morrow to meet in the church, where his Majesty's 

mandate 
Will be proclaimed as law in the land. Alas! in the mean 

time 
Many surmises of evil alarm the hearts of the people." 
Then made answer the farmer: "Perhaps some friendlier 

purpose 
Brings these ships to our shores. Perhaps the harvests in 

England 
By untimely rains or untimelier heat have been blighted, 
And from our bursting barns they would feed their cattle 

and children." 
*' Not so thinketh the folk in the village," said, warmly, the 

blacksmith. 
Shaking his head, as in doubt; then, heaving a sigh, he 

continued : — 
"Louisburg is not forgotten,^ nor Beau Sejour, nor Port 

Royal. 
Many already have fled to the forest, and lurk on its out- 
skirts, 
Waiting with anxious hearts the dubious fate of to-morrow. 
Arms have been taken from us, and warlike weapons of all 

kinds ; 
Nothing is left but the blacksmith's sledge and the scythe 

of the mower." 
Then with a pleasant smile made answer the jovial farmer : — 
*' Safer are we unarmed, in the midst of our flocks and our 

cornfields, 

1. Louisburg is not forgotten (loo'i-biirg). Louisburg, a strong 
French fortification on Cape Breton Island, was attacked and taken 
by the English in 1734. Fort Beau Sejour (bo-sa-zhoor') and Port 
Royal, which afterward became Annapolis, were taken in 1749. 



182 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Safer within these peaceful dikes, besieged by the ocean, 
Than our fathers in forts, besieged by the enemy's cannon. 
Fear no evil, my friend, and to-night may no shadow of 

sorrow 
Fall on this house and hearth; for this is the night of the 

contract.^ 
Built are the house and the bam. The merry lads of the 

village 
Strongly have built them and well; and, breaking the 

glebe^ round about them. 
Filled the bam with hay, and the house with food for a 

twelvemonth. 
Rene Leblanc^ will be here anon, with his papers and ink- 
horn.* 
Shall we not then be glad, and rejoice in the joy of our 

children?'' 
As apart by the window she stood, with her hand in her 

lover's. 
Blushing Evangeline heard the words that her father had 

spoken, 
And, as they died on his lips, the worthy notary^ entered. 

Ill 

Bent like a laboring oar, that toils in the surf of the 
ocean. 
Bent, but not broken, by age was the form of the notary 
public ; 

1. The night of the contract. The night when the agreement of 
marriage between Gabriel and Evangeline was to be signed. Among 
the Acadians this was an occasion of great importance, and was 
usually attended by feasts and merrymaking. 

2. Glebe. A plot of cultivated ground. 

3. Rene Leblanc (re-na' le-blaN')- 

4. Inkhorn. An inkstand made of horn. 

5. Notary. One who attests contracts and other legal documents; 
a notary public. 



EVANGELINE 183 

Shocks of yellow hair, like the silken floss of the maize/ 

hung 
Over his shoulders; his forehead was high; and glasses 

with horn bows 
Sat astride on his nose, with a look of wisdom supernal. 
Father of twenty children was he, and more than a hundred 
Children's children rode on his knee, and heard his great 

watch tick. 
Four long years in the times of the war^ had he languished 

a captive. 
Suffering much in an old French fort as the friend of the 

English. 
Now, though warier grown, without all guile or suspicion, 
Ripe in wisdom was he, but patient, and simple, and child- 

hke. 
He was beloved by all, and most of all by the children ; 
For he told them tales of the Loup-garou^ in the forest. 
And of the goblin that came in the night to water the 

horses, 
And of the white Letiche,* the ghost of a child who un- 

christened 
Died, and was doomed to haunt unseen the chambers of 

children ; 
And how on Christmas eve the oxen talked in the stable,^ 

1. The silken floss of the maize. This refers to the glossy silk of 
the corn. 

2. The war. This may refer either to Queen Anne's War, or to 
King George's War. 

3. Loup-garou (loo'-gar-oo')- Man-wolf. A human being who 
had the power to turn himself into a wolf and still retain human 
intelligence. 

4. Letiche (la-tesh'). 

5. The oxen talked in the stable. This legend is probably a form 
of the old story that on Christmas Eve the cattle in the stables fell 
on their knees in worship of the Savior. The still older legends tell 
of how the oxen in the stable at Bethlehem did this in adoration of 
the Christ Child at the time of His birth. 



184 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

And how the fever was cured by a spider shut up in a nut- 
shell, 

And of the marvelous powers of four-leaved clover and 
horseshoes, 

With whatsoever else was writ in the lore of the village. 

Then up rose from his seat by the fireside Basil the black- 
smith. 

Knocked from his pipe the ashes, and slowly extending his 
right hand, 

''Father Leblanc," he exclaimed, ''thou hast heard the 
talk in the village. 

And, perchance, canst tell us some news of these ships 
and their errand." 

Then with modest demeanor made answer the notary 
pubhc, — 

"Gossip enough have I heard, in sooth, ^ yet am never the 
wiser; 

And what their errand may be I know not better than 
others. 

Yet am I not of those who imagine some evil intention 

Brings them here, for we are at peace; and why then 
molest us?" 

"God's name !" shouted the hasty and somewhat irascible- 
blacksmith ; 

"Must we in all things look for the how, and the why, and 
the wherefore? 

Daily injustice is done, and might is the right of the 
strongest!" 

But without heeding his warmth, continued the notary 
public, — 

"Man is unjust, but God is just; and finally justice 

1. In sooth. In truth. 

2. Irascible (i-ras'i-b'l). Irritable; quick-tempered. 



EVANGELINE 185 

Triumphs; and well I remember a story, that often eon- 
soled me, 

When as a captive I lay in the old French fort at Port 
Royal." 

This was the old man^s favorite tale, and he loved to 
repeat it 

When his neighbors complained that any injustice was 
done them. 

"Once in an ancient city, whose name I no longer re- 
member. 

Raised aloft on a column, a brazen statue of Justice 

Stood in the public square, upholding the scales in its left 
hand. 

And in its right a sword, as an emblem that justice presided 

Over the laws of the land, and the hearts and homes of the 
people. 

Even the birds had built their nests in the scales of the 
balance, 

Having no fear of the sword that flashed in the sunshine 
above them. 

But in the course of time the laws of the land were cor- 
rupted ; 

Might took the place of right, and the weak were op- 
pressed, and the mighty 

Ruled with an iron rod. Then it chanced in a nobleman's 
palace 

That a necklace of pearls was lost, and ere long a suspicion 

Fell on an orphan girl who lived as a maid in the household. 

She, after form of trial condemned to die on the scaffold, 

Patiently met her doom at the foot of the statue of Justice. 

As to her Father in heaven her innocent spirit ascended, 

Lo! o'er the city a tempest rose; and the bolts of the 
thunder 



186 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Smote the statue of bronze, and hurled in wrath from its 

left hand 
Down on the pavement below the clattering scales of the 

balance, 
And in the hollow thereof was found the nest of a magpie, 
Into whose clay-built walls the necklace of pearls was in- 
woven." 
Silenced, but not convinced, when the story was ended, 

the blacksmith 
Stood like a man who fain would speak, but findeth no 

language ; 
All his thoughts were congealed into lines on his face, as 

the vapors 
Freeze in fantastic shapes on the window-panes in the 

winter. 

Then Evangeline lighted the brazen lamp on the table, 

Filled, till it overflowed, the pewter tankard with home- 
brewed 

Nut-brown ale, that was famed for its strength in the 
village of Grand-Pre; 

While from his pocket the notary drew his papers and ink- 
horn, 

Wrote with a* steady hand the date and the age of the 
parties. 

Naming the dower^ of the bride in flocks of sheep and in 
cattle. 

Orderly all things proceeded, and duly and well were com- 
pleted, 

And the great seal of the law was set like a sun on the 
margin. 

1. Dower. The propeT-f.v which a woman brings to her husband 
at marriage. 



EVANGELINE 187 

Then from his leathern pouch the farmer threw on the 

table 
Three times the old man's fee in solid pieces of silver; 
And the notary rising, and blessing the bride and the 

bridegroom, 
Lifted aloft the tankard of ale and drank to their welfare. 
Wiping the foam from his lip, he solemnly bowed and 

departed, 
While in silence the others sat and mused by the fireside, 
Till Evangeline brought the draught-board^ out of its 

corner. 
Soon was the game begun. In friendly contention the old 

men 
Laughed at each lucky hit, or unsuccessful manoeuvre, 
Laughed when a man was crowned, or a breach was made 

in the king-row. 
Meanwhile apart, in the twilight gloom of a window's 

embrasure,^ 
Sat the lovers, and whispered together, beholding the moon 

rise 
Over the pallid sea, and the silvery mists of the meadows. 
Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven. 
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the 

angels. 

Thus was the evening passed. Anon the bell from the 
belfry 
Rang out the hour of nine, the village curfew, ^ and straight- 
way 

1. Draught-board (draft). Checkerboard. 

2. Embrasure (em-bra'zhur). The sloping or beveling of the wall 
around a window. 

3. Curfew. A corruption from the French couvre-feu, which 
means " cover fire." In the Middle Ages a bell was rung at a certain 
hour in the evening, warning people to cover their fires and go to bed. 



188 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Rose the guests and departed; and silence reigned in the 

household. 
Many a farewell word and sweet good-night on the door- 
step 
Lingered long in Evangeline's heart, and filled it with 

gladness. 
Carefully then were covered the embers that glowed on 

the hearth-stone, 
And on the oaken stairs resounded the tread of the farmer. 
Soon with a soundless step the foot of Evangeline followed. 
Up the staircase moved a luminous space in the darkness, 
Lighted less by the lamp than the shining face of the 

maiden. 
Silent she passed the hall, and entered the door of her 

chamber. 
Simple that chamber was, with its curtains of white, and 

its clothes-press 
Ample and high, on whose spacious shelves were carefully 

folded 
Linen and woollen stuffs, by the hand of Evangeline woven. 
This was the precious dower she would bring to her 

husband in marriage. 
Better than flocks and herds, being proofs of her skill as a 

housewife. 
Soon she extinguished her lamp, for the mellow and radiant 

moonlight 
Streamed through the windows, and lighted the room, till 

the heart of the maiden 
Swelled and obeyed its power, like the tremulous tides of 

the ocean. 1 

Ah ! she was fair, exceeding fair to behold, as she stood with 

1. Tremulous tides of the ocean. The author has reference in 
these lines to the influence of the moon on the tides. 



EVANGELINE 189 

Naked snow-white feet on the gleaming floor of her 

chamber ! 
Little she dreamed that below, among the trees of the 

orchard, 
Waited her lover and watched for the gleam of her lamp 

and her shadow. 
Yet were her thoughts of him, and at times a feeling of 

sadness 
Passed o'er her soul, as the sailing shade of clouds in the 

moonlight 
Flitted across the floor and darkened the room for a 

moment. 
And, as she gazed from the window, she saw serenely the 

moon pass 
Forth from the folds of a cloud, and one star follow her 

footsteps. 
As out of Abraham's tent young Ishmael wandered with 

Hagar ! ^ 

IV 

Pleasantly rose next morn the sun on the village of 
Grand-Pre. 

Pleasantly gleamed in the soft, sweet air the Basin of 
Minas, 

Where the ships, with their wavering shadows, were riding 
at anchor. 

Life had long been astir in the village, and clamorous labor 

Knocked with its hundred hands at the golden gates of the 
morning. 

Now from the country around, from the farms and neigh- 
boring hamlets. 

Came in their holiday dresses the blithe Acadian peasants. 

1. Ishmael wandered with Hagar. See Genesis xxi, 14. 



190 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Many a glad good-morrow and jocund laugh from the 

young folk 
Made the bright air brighter, as up from the numerous 

meadows, 
Where no path could be seen but the track of wheels in 

the greensward, 
Group after group appeared, and joined, or passed on the 

highway. 
Long ere noon, in the village all sounds of labor were 

silenced. 
Thronged were the streets with people; and noisy groups 

at the house-doors 
Sat in the cheerful sun, and rejoiced and gossiped together. 
Every house was an inn, where all were welcomed and 

feasted ; 
For with this simple people, who lived like brothers to- 
gether. 
All things were held in common, and what one had was 

another's. 
Yet under Benedict's roof hospitality seemed more 

abundant : 
For Evangeline stood among the guests of her father; 
Bright was her face with smiles, and words of welcome 

and gladness 
Fell from her beautiful lips, and blessed the cup as she 

gave it. 

Under the open sky, in the odorous air of the orchard, 
Stript of its golden fruit, was spread the feast of betrothal. 
There in the shade of the porch were the priest and the 

notary seated ; 
There good Benedict sat, and sturdy Basil the blacksmith. 
Not far withdrawn from these, by the cider-press and the 
bee hives, 



EVANGELINE 191 

Michael the fiddler was placed, with the gayest of hearts 

and of waistcoats. 
Shadow and light from the leaves alternately played on 

his snow-white 
Hair, as it waved in the wind; and the jolly face of the 

fiddler 
Glowed like a living coal when the ashes are blown from 

the embers. 
Gaily the old man sang to the vibrant sound of his fiddle, 
Tous les Bourgeois de Ckartres, and Le Carillon de 

Dunquerque,^ 
And anon with his wooden shoes beat time to the music. 
Merrily, merrily whirled the wheels of the dizzying dances 
Under the orchard-trees and down the path to the meadows; 
Old folk and young together, and children mingled among 

them. 
Fairest of all the maids was Evangeline, Benedict's 

daughter ! 
Noblest of all the youths was Gabriel, son of the black- 
smith ! 

So passed the morning away. And lo ! with a summons 

sonorous 
Sounded the bell from its tower, and over the meadows a 

drum beat. 
Thronged ere long was the church with men. Without, in 

the churchyard. 
Waited the women. They stood by the graves, and hung 

on the headstones 
Garlands of autumn-leaves and evergreens fresh from the 

forest. 

1. Tous les Bourgeois de Chartres, and Le Carillon de Dunquerque. 
These were the titles of popular songs, much used on festival 
occasions. 



192 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Then came the guard from the ships, and marching proudly 

among them 
Entered the sacred portal. With loud and dissonant 

clangor^ 
Echoed the sound of their brazen drums from ceiling and 

casement, — 
Echoed a moment only, and slowly the ponderous portal ^ 
Closed, and in silence the crowd awaited the will of the 

soldiers. 
Then uprose their commander, and spake from the steps 

of the altar. 
Holding aloft in his hands, with its seals, the royal com- 
mission.^ 
''You are convened this day," he said, *'by his Majesty's 

orders.* 
Clement and kind has he been ; but how you have answered 

his kindness, 
Let your own hearts reply ! To my natural make and my 

temper 
Painful the task is I do, which to you I know must be 

grievous. 
Yet must I bow and obey, and deliver the will of our 

monarch ; 
Namely, that all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle of 

all kinds 
Forfeited be to the crown; and that you yourselves from 

this province 
Be transported to other lands. God grant you may dwell 

there 

1. Dissonant clangor. Harsh, unmusical sounds. 

2. Ponderous portal. Heavy door. 

3. Commission. A writing, giving one authority to do some 
specific act. 

4. His Majesty's orders. By the order of King George II. 



EVANGELINE 193 

Ever as faithful subjects, a happy and peaceable people ! 
Prisoners now I declare you; for such is his Majesty's 

pleasure !'' 
As, when the air is serene in sultry solstice of summer, ^ 
Suddenly gathers a storm, and the deadly sling of the 

hailstones 
Beats down the farmer's com in the field and shatters his 

windows, 
Hiding the sun, and strewing the ground with thatch from 

the house-roofs, 
Bellowing fly the herds, and seek to break their enclosures ; 
So on the hearts of the people descended the words of the 

speaker. 
Silent a moment they stood in speechless wonder, and 

then rose 
Louder and ever louder a wail of sorrow and anger. 
And, by one impulse moved, they madly rushed to the 

door-way. 
Vain was the hope of escape; and cries and fierce impre- 
cations ^ 
Rang through the house of prayer ; and high o'er the heads 

of the others 
Rose, with his arms uplifted, the figure of Basil the black- 
smith, 
As, on a stormy sea, a spar is tossed by the billows. 
Flushed was his face and distorted with passion ; and wildly 

he shouted, — 
" Down with the tyrants of England ! we never have sworn 

them allegiance ! 
Death to these foreign soldiers, who seize on our homes 

and our harvests!" 

1. Solstice of summer. The time when the sun's rays are vertical 
at the Tropic of Cancer. 

2. Imprecations. Curses. 

—13 



194 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

More he fain would have said, but the merciless hand of 

a soldier 
Smote him upon the mouth, and dragged him down to the 

pavement. 

In the midst of the strife and tumult of angry conten- 
tion, 

Lo ! the door of the chancel^ opened, and Father Felician 

Entered, with serious mien, and ascended the steps of the 
altar. 

Raising his reverend hand, with a gesture he awed into 
silence 

All that clamorous throng ; and thus he spake to his people ; 

Deep were his tones and solemn ; in accents measured and 
mournful 

Spake he, as, after the tocsin's alarum, ^ distinctly the 
clock strikes. 

''What is this that ye do, my children? what madness has 
seized you? 

Forty years of my life have I labored among you, and 
taught you. 

Not in word alone, but in deed, to love one another ! 

Is this the fruit of my toils, of my vigils^ and prayers and 
privations? 

Have you so soon forgotten all lessons of love and for- 
giveness? 

This is the house of the Prince of Peace, and would you 
profane it^ 

1. Chancel. The part of the church in front of the altar. It was 
formerly enclosed by crossbars of lattice work; now a railing is used. 

2. Tocsin's alarum. The warning sound given by the bell of a 
clock before it strikes the hour. 

3. Vigils. Devotional watchings. 

4. Profane it. Treat it with disrespect. 



EVANGELINE 195 

Thus with violent deeds and hearts overflowing with 
hatred? 

Lo! where the crucified Christ from his cross is gazing 
upon you ! 

See ! in those sorrowful eyes what meekness and holy com- 
passion ! 

Hark! how those lips still repeat the prayer, '0 Father, 
forgive them! '1 

Let us repeat that prayer in the hour when the wicked 
assail us, 

Let us repeat it now, and say, *0 Father, forgive them!'" 

Few were his words of rebuke, but deep in the hearts of 
his people 

Sank they, and sobs of contrition succeeded the passionate 
outbreak, 

While they repeated his prayer and said, "0 Father, for- 
give them!" 

Then came the evening service. The tapers gleamed 

from the altar. 
Fervent and deep was the voice of the priest, and the 

people responded. 
Not with their lips alone, but their hearts; and the Ave 

Maria2 
Sang they, and fell on their knees, and their souls, with 

devotion translated. 
Rose on the ardor of prayer, like Elijah^ ascending to 

heaven. 

Meanwhile had spread in the village the tidings of ill, 
and on all sides 

1. O Father, forgive them. See Luke xxiii, 34. 

2. Ave Maria (a'va ma-re'a). The first two words of the in- 
vocation or prayer, Hail Mary, addressed to the Virgin Mary. 

3. Like Elijah. See II Kings ii, 11. 



196 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Wandered, wailing, from house to house the women and 

children. 
Long at her father's door Evangeline stood, with her right 

hand 
Shielding her eyes from the level rays of the sun, that, 

descending, 
Lighted the village street with mysterious splendor, and 

roofed each 
Peasant's cottage with golden thatch, and emblazoned its 

windows. 
Long within had been spread the snow-white cloth on the 

table ; 
There stood the wheaten loaf, and the honey fragrant with 

wild-flowers ; 
There stood the tankard of ale, and the cheese fresh 

brought from the dairy , 
And, at the head of the board, the great arm-chair of the 

farmer. 
Thus did Evangeline wait at her father's door, as the 

sunset 
Threw the long shadows of trees o'er the broad ambrosial 

meadows. 
Ah ! on her spirit within a deeper shadow had fallen, 
And from the fields of her soul a fragrance celestial 

ascended, — 
Charity, meekness, love, and hope, and forgiveness, and 

patience ! 
Then, all-forgetful of self, she wandered into the village. 
Cheering with looks and words the mournful hearts of 

the women. 
As o'er the darkening fields with lingering steps they 

departed. 
Urged by their household cares, and the weary feet of their 

children. 



EVANGELINE 197 

Down sank the great red sun, and in golden, glimmering 

vapors 
Veiled the light of his face, like the Prophet descending 

from Sinai. 1 
Sweetly over the village the bell of the Angelas sounded. 

Meanwhile, amid the gloom, by the church Evangeline 

lingered. 
All was silent within; and in vain at the door and the 

windows 
Stood she, and listened and looked, till, overcome by 

emotion, 
" Gabriel ! " cried she aloud with tremulous voice ; but no 

answer 
Came from the graves of the dead, nor the gloomier grave 

of the living. 2 
Slowly at length she returned to the tenantless house of 

her father. 
Smouldered the fire on the hearth, on the board was the 

supper untasted. 
Empty and drear was each room, and haunted with 

phantoms of terror. 
Sadly echoed her step on the stair and the floor of her 

chamber. 
In the dead of the night she heard the disconsolate rain fall 
Loud on the withered leaves of the sycamore-tree by the 

window. 
Keenly the lightning flashed ; and the voice of the echoing 

thunder 

1. Like the Prophet descending from Sinai (sl'ni). Exodus xxxiv, 
33-35. 

2. Gloomier grave of the living. The church in which the men were 
imprisoned. 



198 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Told her that God was in heaven, and governed the world 
He created ! 

Then she remembered the tale she had heard of the justice 
of Heaven; 

Soothed was her troubled soul, and she peacefully slum- 
bered till morning. 

V 

Four times the sun had risen and set; and now on the 
fifth day 

Cheerily called the cock to the sleeping maids of the farm- 
house. 

Soon o'er the yellow fields, in silent and mournful pro- 
cession. 

Came from the neighboring hamlets and farms the Acadian 
women. 

Driving in ponderous wains their household goods to the 
sea-shore. 

Pausing and looking back to gaze once more on their 
dwellings. 

Ere they were shut from sight by the winding road and 
the woodland. 

Close at their sides their children ran, and urged on the 
oxen. 

While in their little hands they clasped some fragments 
of playthings. 

Thus to the Gaspereau's mouth they hurried ; and there 
on the sea-beach 
Piled in confusion lay the household goods of the peasants. 
All day long between the shore and the ships did the boats 

1. Did the boats ply. The boats made trips back and forth from 
the shore to the ships, carrying the goods of the Acadians. 



EVANGELINE 199 

All day long the wains came laboring down from the 

village. 
Late in the afternoon, when the sun was near to his setting, 
Echoed far o'er the fields came the roll of drums from the 

churchyard. 
Thither the women and children thronged. On a sudden 

the church-doors 
Opened, and forth came the guard, and marching in 

gloomy procession 
Followed the long-imprisoned, but patient, Acadian 

farmers. 
Even as pilgrims, who journey afar from their homes and 

their country. 
Sing as they go, and in singing forget they are weary and 

wayworn. 
So with songs on their lips the Acadian peasants de- 
scended 
Down from the church to the shore, amid their wives and 

their daughters. 
Foremost the young men came ; and, raising together their 

voices, 
Sang with tremulous lips a chant of the Catholic Missions : — 
"Sacred heart of the Saviour! inexhaustible fountain! 
Fill our hearts this day with strength and submission and 

patience!" 
Then the old men, as they marched, and the women that 

stood by the wayside 
Joined in the sacred psalm, and the birds in the sunshine 

above them 
Mingled their notes therewith, like voices of spirits de- 
parted. 

Half-way down to the shore Evangeline waited in 
silence. 



200 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Not overcome with grief, but strong in the hour of 
affliction, — 

Calmly and sadly she waited, until the procession ap- 
proached her, 

And she beheld the face of Gabriel pale with emotion. 

Tears then filled her eyes, and, eagerly running to meet 
him. 

Clasped she his hands, and laid her head on his shoulder, 
and whispered, — 

" Gabriel ! be of good cheer ! for if we love one another 

Nothing, in truth, can harm us, whatever mischances may 
happen!" 

Smiling she spake these words; then suddenly paused, for 
her father 

Saw she slowly advancing. Alas! how changed was his 
aspect ! 

Gone was the glow from his cheek, and the fire from his 
eye, and his footstep 

Heavier seemed with the weight of the heavy heart in his 
bosom. 

But with a smile and a sigh, she clasped his neck and em- 
braced him. 

Speaking words of endearment where words of comfort 
availed not. 

Thus to the Gasperau's mouth moved on that mournful 
procession. 

There disorder prevailed, and the tumult and stir of 
embarking. 
Busily pHed the freighted boats; and in the confusion 
Wives were torn from their husbands, and mothers, too 

late, saw their children 
Left on the land, extending their arms, with wildest en- 
treaties. 



EVANGELINE 201 

So unto separate ships were Basil and Gabriel carried, 

While in despair on the shore Evangeline stood with her 
father. 

Half the task was not done when the sun went down, and 
the twilight 

Deepened and darkened around ; and in haste the refluent^ 
ocean 

Fled away from the shore, and left the line of the sand- 
beach 

Covered with waifs^ of the tide, with kelp^ and the slippery 
sea-weed. 

Farther back in the midst of the household goods and the 
wagons. 

Like to a gypsy camp, or a leaguer^ after a battle, 

All escape cut off by the sea, and the sentinels near them, 

Lay encamped for the night the houseless Acadian farmers. 

Back to its nethermost^ caves retreated the bellowing ocean. 

Dragging adown the beach the rattling pebbles, and leav- 
ing 

Inland and far up the shore the stranded boats of the 
sailors. 

Then, as the night descended, the herds returned from 
their pastures; 

Sweet was the moist still air with the odor of milk from 
their udders ; 

Lowing they waited, and long, at the well-known bars of 
the farm-yard, — 

Waited and looked in vain for the voice and the hand of 
the milk-maid. 

1. Refluent (refl6o-ent). Flowing back from the land; ebbing. 

2. Waifs. Things carried up on the beach by the tide. 

3. Kelp. A seaweed from which iodine is made. The ashes of 
kelp are used in the manufacture of glass. 

4. Leaguer, The camp of an army. 

5. Nethermost. Lowest. 



202 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Silence reigned in the streets ; from the church no Angelus 

sounded, 
Rose no smoke from the roofs, and gleamed no lights from 

the windows. 

But on the shores meanwhile the evening fires had been 

kindled, 
Built of the drift-wood thrown on the sands from wrecks 

in the tempest. 
Round them shapes of gloom and sorrowful faces were 

gathered. 
Voices of women were heard, and of men, and the crying 

of children. 
Onward from fire to fire, as from hearth to hearth in his 

parish. 
Wandered the faithful priest, consoling and blessing and 

cheering, 
Like unto shipwrecked Paul on Melita's desolate sea-shore.* 
Thus he approached the place where Evangeline sat with 

her father. 
And in the flickering light beheld the face of the old man. 
Haggard and hollow and wan, and without either thought 

or emotion, 
E^en as the face of a clock from which the hands have been 

taken. 
Vainly Evangeline strove with words and caresses to cheer 

him, 
Vainly offered him food ; yet he moved not, he looked not, 

he spake not. 
But, with a vacant stare, ever gazed at the flickering fire- 
light. 

1. Paul on Melita's desolate sea-shore (men ta). Acts xxviii. 
Melita is the Biblical name for the Island of Malta. 



EVANGELINE 203 

"Benedicite!"^ murmured the priest, in tones of compas- 
sion. 
More he fain would have said, but his heart was full, and 

his accents 
Faltered and paused on his lips, as the feet of a child on a 

threshold. 
Hushed by the scene he beholds, and the awful presence of 

sorrow. 
Silently, therefore, he laid his hand on the head of the 

maiden, 
Raising his tearful eyes to the silent stars that above them 
Moved on their way, unperturbed^ by the wrongs and 

sorrows of mortals. 
Then sat he down at her side, and they wept together in 

silence. 

Suddenly rose from the south a light, as in autumn the 

blood-red 
Moon climbs the crystal walls of heaven, and o'er the 

horizon 
Titan-like^ stretches its hundred hands upon the mountain 

and meadow. 
Seizing the rocks and the rivers and piling huge shadows 

together. 
Broader and ever broader it gleamed on the roofs of the 

village, 
Gleamed on the sky and sea, and the ships that lay in the 

roadstead.^ 

1. Benedicite (ben'e-dis'i-te). Bless you. 

2. Unperturbed. Not disturbed. 

3. Titan-like. The Titans were a fabled race of giants who 
waged war with the gods. In this war they piled up a huge moun- 
tain near Mount Olympus to enable them to fight with the gods. 

4. Roadstead. A protected place of anchorage outside the harbor. 



204 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Columns of shining smoke uprose, and flashes of flame were 

Thrust through their folds and withdrawn, like the quiver- 
ing hands of a martyr. 

Then as the wind seized the gleeds^ and the burning 
thatch, and, uplifting, 

Whirled them aloft through the air, at once from a hundred 
house-tops 

Started the sheeted smoke with flashes of flame inter- 
mingled. 

These things beheld in dismay the crowd on the shore 
and on shipboard. 

Speechless at first they stood, then cried aloud in their 
anguish, 

''We shall behold no more our homes in the village of 
Grand-Pre!" 

Loud on a sudden the cocks began to crow in the farm- 
yards, 

Thinking the day had dawned; and anon the lowing of 
cattle 

Came on the evening breeze, by the barking of dogs inter- 
rupted. 

Then rose a sound of dread, such as startles the sleeping 
encampments 

Far in the western prairies or forests that skirt the 
Nebraska, 2 

When the wild horses affrighted sweep by with the speed 
of the whirlwind. 

Or the loud bellowing herds of buffaloes rush to the river. 

Such was the sound that arose on the night, as the herds 
and the horses 

1. Gleeds. Burning coals, 

2. Nebraska. The Platte River. 



EVANGELINE 205 

Broke through their folds and fences, and madly rushed 
o'er the meadows. 

Overwhelmed with the sight, yet speechless, the priest 
and the maiden 

Gazed on the scene of terror that reddened and widened 
before them; 

And as they turned at length to speak to their silent com- 
panion, 

Lo! from his seat he had fallen, and stretched abroad on 
the sea-shore 

Motionless lay his form, from which the soul had departed. 

Slowly the priest uplifted the lifeless head, and the maiden 

Knelt at her father's side, and wailed aloud in her terror. 

Then in a swoon she sank, and lay with her head on his 
bosom. 

Through the long night she lay in deep, oblivious^ slumber ; 

And when she woke from the trance, she beheld a multi- 
tude near her. 

Faces of friends she beheld, that were mournfully gazing 
upon her, 

Pallid, with tearful eyes, and looks of saddest compassion. 

Still the blaze of the burning village illumined the land- 
scape. 

Reddened the sky overhead, and gleamed on the faces 
around her, 

And like the day of doom it seemed to her wavering senses. 

Then a familiar voice she heard, as it said to the people, — 

" Let us bury him here by the sea. When a happier season 

Brings us again to our homes from the unknown land of 
our exile. 

Then shall his sacred dust be piously laid in the church- 
yard." 

1. Oblivious. Causing forgetfulness. 



206 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Such were the words of the priest. And there in haste 
by the sea-side, 

Having the glare of the burning village for funeral torches, 

But without bell or book/ they buried the farmer of Grand- 
Pre. 

And as the voice of the priest repeated the service of 
sorrow, 

Lo \ with a mournful sound, like the voice of a vast congre- 
gation, 

Solemnly answered the sea, and mingled its roar with the 
dirges. 

'T was the returning tide, that afar from the waste of the 
ocean. 

With the first dawn of the day, came heaving and hurrying 
landward. 

Then recommenced once more the stir and noise of em- 
barking ; 

And with the ebb of the tide^ the ships sailed out of the 
harbor. 

Leaving behind them the dead on the shore, and the 
village in ruins. 

PART THE SECOND 
I 

Many a weary year had passed since the burning of 
Grand-Pre, 
When on the falling tide the 'freighted vessels departed, 
Bearing a nation, with all its household gods, into exile, 

1. Without hell or book. Without the tolling of the bell or the 
reading from the prayer-book — the usual burial ceremonies of the 
church. 

2. Ehh of the tide. It was necessary for the ships to sail with the 
falling tide, because only then could they pass the cape with the 
current. Sailing vessels never attempt to pass against that tide. 



EVANGELINE 207 

Exile without an end, and without an example in story. 
Far asunder, on separate coasts, the Acadians landed ; 
Scattered were they, like flakes of snow, when the wind 

from the northeast 
Strikes aslant through the fogs that darken the Banks of 

Newfoundland.^ 
Friendless, homeless, hopeless, they wandered from city to 

city. 
From the cold lakes of the North to sultry Southern 

savannas, — ^ 
From the bleak shores of the sea to the lands where the 

Father of Waters^ 
Seizes the hills in his hands, and drags them down to the 

ocean. 
Deep in their sands to bury the scattered bones of the 

mammoth.^ 
Friends they sought and homes; and many, despairing, 

heart-broken. 
Asked of the earth but a grave, and no longer a friend nor 

a fireside. 
Written their history stands on tablets of stone in the 

churchyards. 
Long among them was seen a maiden who waited and 

wandered. 
Lowly and meek in spirit, and patiently suffering all things. 
Fair was she and young: but, alas! before her extended, 

1. Banks of Newfoundland. Elevations or raised portions of 
the bed of the ocean near Newfoundland, which cause shallows and 
shoal water. 

2. Savannas. Meadow prairies; great treeless plains. 

3. Father of Waters. The Mississippi River. "Mississippi" is 
the Indian term for "father of waters." 

4. Bones of the mammoth. The mammoth was an animal re- 
sembling the elephant. It was larger in size and had long hair. It 
is now extinct, but its bones are found at various places in the 
Mississippi Valley. 



208 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life, with its path- 
way 

Marked by the graves of those who had sorrowed and 
suffered before her, 

Passions long extinguished, and hopes long dead and 
abandoned. 

As the emigrant's way o'er the Western desert is marked by 

Camp-fires long consumed, and bones that bleach in the 
sunshine.^ 

Something there was in her life incomplete, imperfect, un- 
finished ; 

As if a morning of June, with all its music and sunshine. 

Suddenly paused in the sky, and, fading, slowly descended 

Into the east again, from whence it late had arisen. 

Sometimes she lingered in towns, till, urged by the fever 
within her. 

Urged by a restless longing, the hunger and thirst of the 
spirit, 

She would commence again her endless search and en- 
deavor ; 

Sometimes in churchyards strayed, and gazed on the 
crosses and tombstones. 

Sat by some nameless grave, and thought that perhaps in 
its bosom 

He was already at rest, and she longed to slumber beside 
him. 

Sometimes a rumor, a hearsay, an inarticulate whisper, ^ 

Came with its airy hand to point and beckon her forward. 

Sometimes she spake with those who had seen her beloved 
and known him, 

1. Bones that bleach in the sunshine. The trail to the Far West 
was marked by the bones of many travelers and of thousands of 
animals, mostly oxen, that died of thirst on the journey. 

2. Inarticulate whisper. A whisper not spoken clearly. 



EVANGELINE 209 

But it was long ago, in some far-off place or forgotten. 
''Gabriel Lajeunesse!" they said; "Oh yes! we have seen 

him. 
He was with Basil the blacksmith, and both have gone to 

the prairies; 
Coureurs-des-Bois^ are they, and famous hunters and 

trappers." 
"Gabriel Lajeunesse!" said others; "Oh yes! we have 

seen him. 
He is a Voyageur^ in the lowlands of Louisiana." 
Then would they say, "Dear child! why dream and wait 

for him longer? 
Are there not other youths as fair as Gabriel? Others 
Who have hearts as tender and true, and spirits as loyal? 
Here is Baptiste Leblanc,^ the notary's son, who has loved 

thee 
Many a tedious year; come, give him thy hand and be 

happy! 
Thou art too fair to be left to braid St. Catherine's 

tresses."^ 
Then would Evangeline answer, serenely but sadly, "I 

can not ! 
Whither my heart has gone, there follows my hand, and 

not elsewhere. 
For when the heart goes before, like a lamp, and illumines 

the pathway, 

1. Coureurs-des-Bois (koo'rur'de bwa'). Frenchmen or half- 
breeds who accompanied the early fur traders in the Northwest. 
They paddled the canoes, carried the goods and canoes at the por- 
tages, and assisted in collecting furs from the Indians. 

2. Voyageur (vwa-ya-zhur'). A river boatman; a trapper. 

3. Baptiste Lehlanc (ba-tesf le-blaw). 

4. Left to braid St. Catherine's tresses. St. Catherine of Alexandria 
and St. Catherine of Siena were both celebrated for their vows to re- 
main unwedded. "Left to braid St. Catherine's tresses," is an ex- 
pression that was applied to unmarried women. 

—14 



210 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Many things are made clear, that else lie hidden in dark- 

ness.'* 
Thereupon the priest, her friend and father confessor, ^ 
Said, with a smile, "0 daughter! thy God thus speaketh 

within thee ! 
Talk not of wasted affection, affection never was wasted ; 
If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters, returning 
Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill them full of 

refreshment ; 
That which the fountain sends forth returns again to the 

fountain. 
Patience; accomplish thy labor; accomplish thy work of 

affection ! 
Sorrow and silence are strong, and patient endurance is 

godlike. 
Therefore accomplish thy labor of love, till the heart is 

made godlike. 
Purified, strengthened, perfected, and rendered more 

worthy of heaven!" 
Cheered by the good man's words, Evangeline labored and 

waited. 
Still in her heart she heard the funeral dirge of the ocean. 
But with its sound there was mingled a voice that whis- 
pered, ** Despair not!" 
Thus did that poor soul wander in want and cheerless 

discomfort. 
Bleeding, barefooted, over the shards^ and thorns of 

existence. 
Let me essay, ^ Muse ! ^ to follow the wanderer's foot- 
steps; — 

1. Father confessor. The priest to whom one confesses. 

2. Shards, Rough, jagged fragments. 

3. Essay, Endeavor; try. 

4. Muse. According to Greek mythology there were nine muses, 
several of whom were especial patrons of poetry. Poets fre- 
quently call upon the muses, or a muse, for inspiration. 



EVANGELINE 211 

Not through each devious^ path, each changeful year of 
existence, 

But as a traveler follows a streamlet's course through the 
valley : 

Far from its margin at times, and seeing the gleam of its 
water 

Here and there, in some open space, and at intervals only ; 

Then drawing nearer its banks, through sylvan glooms^ 
that conceal it, 

Though he behold it not, he can hear its continuous mur- 
mur; 

Happy, at length, if he find the spot were it reaches an 
outlet. 

II 

It was the month of May. Far down the Beautiful 
River, 3 
Past the Ohio shore and past the mouth of the Wabash, 
Into the golden stream of the broad and swift Mississippi, 
Floated a cumbrous boat, that was rowed by Acadian 

boatmen. 
It was a band of exiles : a raft, as it were, from the ship- 
wrecked 
Nation, scattered along the coast, now floating together, 
Bound by the bonds of a common belief and a common 

misfortune ; 
Men and women and children, who, guided by hope or by 
hearsay, 

1. Devious (de'vi-iis). Rambling. 

2. Sylvan glooms. Glooms of the forest. 

3. Beautiful River. The Ohio River. On the earliest maps the 
Ohio River is named the Beautiful River. "Beautiful" is said to 
be the meaning of the Indian name Ohio, 



212 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Sought for their kith and their kin^ among the few-acred 

farmers 
On the Acadian coast, and the prairies of fair Opelousas.^ 
With them Evangeline went, and her guide, the Father 

Fehcian. 
Onward o'er sunken sands, through a wilderness sombre 

with forests. 
Day after day they glided adown the turbulent river; 
Night after night, by their blazing fires, encamped on its 

borders. 
Now through rushing chutes, ^ among green islands, where 

plume like 
Cotton-trees* nodded their shadowy crests, they swept 

with the current, 
Then emerged into broad lagoons,^ where silvery sand-bars 
Lay in the stream, and along the wimpling^ waves of their 

margin. 
Shining with snow-white plumes, large flocks of pelicans^ 

waded. 
Level the landscape grew, and along the shores of the river, 

1. Their kith and their kin. Their friends and relatives. 

2. The Acadian coast, and the prairies of fair Opelousas (6p-e- 
loo'sas). Between the Ist of January and the 13th of May, 1765, 
about six hundred and fifty Acadians had arrived at New Orleans. 
The existence of a French population there attracted the exiles, 
and they were sent by the authorities to form settlements in Atta- 
kapas and Opelousas. They afterward established themselves on 
both sides of the Mississippi from the German Coast to Baton 
Rouge and even as high as Pointe Coupee. Hence the name of 
Acadian Coast, which a portion of the banks of the river still bears. 
See Gayarre's History of Louisiana, the French Dominion, vol. II. 
[From Longfellow's Complete Poetical Works, Cambridge Edition.] 

3. Chutes. "Chute" is the term applied, especially in the lower 
Mississippi, to a narrow channel with a free current. 

4. Cotton-trees. Probably cottonwood trees are meant. 

5. Lagoons. Shallow lakes or ponds connected with the river. 

6. Wimpling. Rippling or undulating. 

7. Pelican. A water fowl larger than the swan, living on the 
edges of rivers and lakes and feeding on fish. 



EVANGELINE 213 

Shaded by china-trees/ in the midst of luxuriant gardens, 
Stood the houses of planters, with negro cabins and dove- 
cots. 
They were approaching the region where reigns perpetual 

summer, 
Where through the Golden Coast,^ and groves of orange 

and citron. 
Sweeps with majestic curve the river away to the eastward. 
They, too, swerved from their course; and entering the 

Bayou of Plaquemine,^ 
Soon were lost in a maze of sluggish and devious waters, 
Which, like a network of steel, extended in every direction. 
Over their heads the towering and tenebrous^ boughs of 

the cypress 
Met in a dusky arch, and trailing mosses in mid-air 
Waved like banners that hang on the walls of ancient 

cathedrals. 
Deathlike the silence seemed, and unbroken, save by the 

herons 
Home to their roosts in the cedar-trees returning at sunset. 
Or by the owl, as he greeted the moon with demoniac 

laughter. 
Lovely the moonlight was as it glanced and gleamed on 

the water. 
Gleamed on the columns of cypress and cedar sustaining 

the arches, 
Down through whose broken vaults it fell as through 

chinks in a ruin. 

1. China-trees. Either the soapberry, or the Asiatic Chinaberry 
tree, both of which are frequently found in the Southern States. 

2. Golden Coast. A region in Louisiana. 

3. Bayou of Plaquemine (bl'oo, plak-men'). A bayou on the 
west side of the river, near Baton Rouge. 

4. Tenebrous. Dark; gloomy. 



214 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Dreamlike, and indistinct, and strange were all things 
around them; 

And o'er their spirits there came a feeling of wonder and 
sadness, — 

Strange forebodings of ill, unseen and that cannot be com- 
passed.^ 

As, at the tramp of a horse's hoof on the turf of the 
prairies. 

Far in advance are closed the leaves of the shrinking 
mimosa,^ 

So, at the hoof -beats of fate, with sad forebodings of evil, 

Shrinks and closes the heart, ere the stroke of doom has 
attained it. 

But Evangeline's heart was sustained by a vision, that 
faintly 

Floated before her eyes, and beckoned her on through the 
moonlight. 

It was the thought of her brain that assumed the shape of 
a phantom. 

Through those shadowy aisles had Gabriel wandered be- 
fore her. 

And every stroke of the oar now brought him nearer and 
nearer. 

Then in his place, at the prow of the boat, rose one of 

the oarsmen, 
And, as a signal sound, if others like them peradventure 
Sailed on those gloomy and midnight streams, blew a 

blast on his bugle. 

1. Compassed. Comprehended. 

2. Mimosa. The sensitive plant, whose leaves shrink or fold 
upon being touched. 



EVANGELINE 215 

Wild through the dark colonnades and corridors^ leafy the 
blast rang, 

Breaking the seal of silence, and giving tongues to the 
forest. 

Soundless above them the banners of moss just stirred to 
the music. 

Multitudinous echoes awoke and died in the distance, 

Over the watery floor, and beneath the reverberant 
branches; 2 

But not a voice replied; no answer came from the dark- 
ness; 

And, when the echoes had ceased, like a sense of pain was 
the silence. 

Then Evangeline slept; but the boatmen rowed through 
the midnight. 

Silent at times, then singing familiar Canadian boat- 
songs. 

Such as they sang of old on their own Acadian rivers. 

While through the night were heard the mysterious sounds 
of the desert,' 

Far off, — indistinct, — as of wave or wind in the forest, 

Mixed with the whoop of the crane^ and the roar of the 
grim alligator. 

Thus ere another noon they emerged from the shades; 
and before them 

1. Colonnades and eorridors. A colonnade is a series of columns 
placed at regular intervals. A corridor is a narrow passageway. 
The reference here is to tall, straight, regularly shaped trees grow- 
ing in such a manner that they suggest the idea of colonnades and 
corridors. 

2. Reverberant branches. Branches sending back the sound. 

3. Desert. The wilderness or solitude. 

4. Whoop of the crane. The whooping crane is a large white 
bird with long legs. Its cry is a piercing whoop that can be heard 
for a great distance. 



216 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Lay, in the golden sun, the lakes of the Atchafalaya.^ 

Water-lilies in myriads rocked on the slight undulations 

Made by the passing oars, and, resplendent in beauty, the 
lotus2 

Lifted her golden crown above the heads of the boatmen. 

Faint was the air with the odorous breath of magnolia 
blossoms,^ 

And with the heat of noon ; and numberless sylvan islands. 

Fragrant and thickly embowered with blossoming hedges 
of roses. 

Near to whose shores they glided along, invited to slumber. 

Soon by the fairest of these their weary oars were sus- 
pended. 

Under the boughs of Wachita'^ willows, that grew by the 
margin, 

Safely their boat was moored ; and scattered about on the 
greensward. 

Tired with their midnight toil, the weary travelers slum- 
bered. 

Over them vast and high extended the cope^ of a cedar. 

Swinging from its great arms, the trumpet-flower^ and the 
grapevine 

Hung their ladder of ropes aloft like the ladder of Jacob, ^ 

1. Lakes of the Atchafalaya (ach-a-fa-li'a)_. Lakes formed by a 
broadening of the Atchafalaya Bayou, which is located at the mouth 
of the Red River. 

2. Lotus. A beautiful flower resembling the water lily. 

3. Magnolia blossoms. The large, fragrant blossom of the mag- 
nolia tree, common in our Southern States. 

4. Wachita (w6sh'e-t6). A tributary of the Mississippi River 
in Louisiana. 

5. Cope. Anything that arches overhead; the covering. 

6. Trumpet flower. A climbing plant with large tubular flowers, 

7. Aloft like the ladder of Jacob. Genesis xxviii, 10-12. 



EVANGELINE 217 

On whose pendulous^ stairs the angels ascending, de- 
scending, 

Were the swift humming-birds, that flitted from blossom 
to blossom. 

Such was the vision Evangeline saw as she slumbered 
beneath it. 

Filled was her heart with love, and the dawn of an opening 
heaven 

Lighted her soul in sleep with the glory of regions celestial. 

Nearer, and ever nearer, among the numberless islands, 
Darted a light, swift boat, that sped away o'er the water, 
Urged on its course by the sinewy arms of hunters and 

trappers. 
Northward its prow was turned, to the land of the bison 

and beaver. 
At the helm sat a youth, with countenance thoughtful and 

careworn. 
Dark and neglected locks overshadowed his brow, and a 

sadness 
Somewhat beyond his years on his face was legibly^ 

written. 
Gabriel was it, who, weary with waiting, imhappy and 

restless, 
Sought in the Western wilds oblivion of self and of sorrow. 
Swiftly they glided along, close under the lee^ of the island. 
But by the opposite bank, and behind a screen of pal- 
mettos,^ 

1. Pendulous. Hanging; swinging. 

2. Legibly. Plainly; clearly. 

3. Lee. Protection; shelter, usually from the wind. 

4. Palmettos. Palm trees growing in the Southern States. The 
stem grows without branches to a height of from twenty to fifty 
feet, and is crowned by a head of large leaves. 



218 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

So that they saw not the boat, where it lay concealed in 

the willows; 
All undistrubed by the dash of their oars, and unseen, 

were the sleepers. 
Angel of God was there none to awaken the slumbering 

maiden. 
Swiftly they glided away, like the shade of a cloud on the 

prairie. 
After the sound of their oars on the tholes^ had died in the 

distance. 
As from a magic trance the sleepers awoke, and the maiden 
Said with a sigh to the friendly priest, ''0 Father Felician I 
Something says in my heart that near me Gabriel wanders. 
Is it a foolish dream, an idle and vague superstition? 
Or has an angel passed, and revealed the truth to my 

spirit?" 
Then, with a blush, she added, "Alas for my credulous 

fancy ! 
Unto ears like thine such words as these have no meaning." 
But made answer the reverend man, and he smiled as he 

answered, — 
*' Daughter, thy words are not idle; nor are they to me 

without meaning. 
Feeling is deep and still; and the word that floats on the 

surface 
Is as the tossing buoy,^ that betrays where the anchor is 

hidden. 
Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls 

illusions. 

1. Tholes. Pins in the gunwale of the boat to keep the oars in 
the rowlocks. 

2. Buoy (bwoi). A float used to mark channels, rocks, or shoals. 
When a ship leaves her anchorage to return soon, the cable of the 
anchor is fastened to a buoy; thus the labor of hoisting and casting 
the heavy anchor is saved. 



EVANGELINE 219 

Gabriel truly is near thee ; for not far away to the south- 
ward, 

On the banks of the Teche/ are the towns of St. Maur^ and 
St. Martin. 

There the long-wandering bride shall be given again to her 
bridegroom, 

There the long-absent pastor regain his flock and his sheep- 
fold. 

Beautiful is the land, with its prairies and forests of fruit- 
trees ; 

Under the feet a garden of flowers, and the bluest of 
heavens 

Bending above, and resting its dome on the walls of the 
forest. 

They who dwell there have named it the Eden of Louisi- 
ana!" 

With these words of cheer they arose and continued 
their journey. 

Softly the evening came. The sun from the western 
horizon 

Like a magician extended his golden wand o'er the land- 
scape ; 

Twinkling vapors arose; and sky and water and forest 

Seemed all on fire at the touch, and melted and mingled 
together. 

Hanging between two skies, a cloud with edges of silver. 

Floated the boat, with its dripping oars, on the motionless 
water. 

Filled was Evangeline's heart with inexpressible sweetness. 

Touched by the magic spell, the sacred fountains of feeling 

1. Teche (tash). A navigable bayou in southern Louisiana. 

2. St. Maur (sax mor'). 



220 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Glowed with the light of love, as the skies and waters 
around her. 

Then from a neighboring thicket the mocking-bird, wildest 
of singers. 

Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o'er the water, 

Shook from his little throat such floods of delirious^ music. 

That the whole air and the woods and the waves seemed 
silent to listen. 

Plaintive at first were the tones and sad : then soaring to 
madness 

Seemed they to follow or guide the revel of frenzied 
Bacchantes.2 

Single notes were then heard, in sorrowful, low lamen- 
tation ; 

Till, having gathered them all, he flung them abroad in 
derision. 

As when, after a storm, a gust of wind through the tree- 
tops 

Shakes down the rattling rain in a crystal shower on the 
branches. 

With such a prelude as this, and hearts that throbbed 
with emotion, 

Slowly they entered the Teche, where it flows through 
the green Opelousas, 

And, through the amber air, above the crest of the wood- 
land. 

Saw the column of smoke that arose from a neighboring 
dwelling ; — 

Sounds of a horn they heard, and the distant lowing of 
cattle. 

1. Delirious. Wild; rapturous. 

2. Frenzied Bacchantes (bak-kan'tez). Those who took part in 
keeping the feast of Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry. At 
these feasts there was much frenzied riot and dancing. 



EVANGELINE 221 

III 

Near to the bank of the river, overshadowed by oaks, 

from whose branches 
Garlands of Spanish moss^ and of mystic mistletoe^ 

flaunted. 
Such as the Druids cut down with golden hatchets at 

Yule-tide,^ 
Stood, secluded and still, the house of the herdsman. A 

garden 
Girded it round about with a belt of luxuriant blossoms. 
Filling the air with fragrance. The house itself was of 

timbers 
Hewn from the cypress-tree, and carefully fitted together. 
Large and low was the roof ; and on slender columns sup- 
ported, 
Rose-wreathed, vine-encircled, a broad and spacious 

veranda. 
Haunt of the humming-bird and the bee, extended 

around it. 
At each end of the house, amid the flowers of the garden, 
Stationed the dove-cots were, as love's perpetual symbol, 
Scenes of endless wooing, and endless contentions of rivals. 
Silence reigned o'er the place. The line of shadow and 

sunshine 
Ran near the tops of the trees ; but the house itself was in 

shadow, 

1. Spanish moss. A plant of copious growth, which hangs in 
garlands or festoons from the trees in the Southern States. It is of 
silvery gray foliage. 

2. Mistletoe. A parasitic plant which grows on the trees in 
the Southern States. It was an object of superstitious regard 
among the ancient Celtic peoples, and was used by the Druids in 
their mystic or secret religious rites. 

3. Yule-tide. The Christmas season. 



222 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

And from its chimney-top, ascending and slowly expanding 

Into the evening air, a thin blue column of smoke rose. 

In the rear of the house, from the garden gate, ran a path- 
way 

Through the great groves of oak to the skirts of the limit- 
less prairie. 

Into whose sea of flowers the sun was slowly descending. 

Full in his track of light, like ships with shadowy canvas 

Hanging loose from their spars in a motionless calm in the 
tropics. 

Stood a cluster of trees, with tangled cordage of grape- 
vines. 

Just where the woodlands met the flowery surf of the 
prairie. 

Mounted upon his horse, with Spanish saddle and stirrups, 

Sat a herdsman, arrayed in gaiters and doublet^ of deer- 
skin. 

Broad and brown was the face that from under the Spanish 
sombrero^ 

Gazed on the peaceful scene, with the lordly look of its 
master. 

Round about him were numberless herds of kine, that were 
grazing 

Quietly in the meadows, and breathing the vapory fresh- 
ness 

That uprose from the river, and spread itseK over the land- 
scape. 

Slowly lifting the horn that hung at his side, and expanding 

Fully his broad, deep chest, he blew a blast, that resounded 

1. Doublet. A close-fitting garment for men, covering the body 
from neck to waist. 

2. Sombrero (som-bra'ro). A hat with a broad brim, used ex- 
tensively in southwestern United States. 



EVANGELINE 223 

Wildly and sweet and far, through the still damp air of 

the evening. 
Suddenly out of the grass the long white horns of the cattle 
Rose like flakes of foam on the adverse^ currents of ocean. 
Silent a moment they gazed, then bellowing rushed o'er 

the prairie, 
And the whole mass became a cloud, a shade in the 

distance. 
Then, as the herdsman turned to the house, through the 

gate of the garden 
Saw he the forms of the priest and the maiden advancing 

to meet him. 
Suddenly down from his horse he sprang in amazement, 

and forward 
Rushed with extended arms and exclamations of wonder ; 
When they beheld his face, they recognized Basil the 

blacksmith. 
Hearty his welcome was, as he led his guests to the garden. 
There in an arbor of roses with endless question and 

answer 
Gave they vent to their hearts, ^ and renewed their friendly 

embraces, 
Laughing and weeping by turns, or sitting silent and 

thoughtful. 
Thoughtful, for Gabriel came not; and now dark doubts 

and misgivings 
Stole o'er the maiden's heart; and Basil, somewhat em- 
barrassed, 
Broke the silence and said, "If you came by the Atcha- 

falaya, 

1. Adverse. Opposed. 

2. Gave they vent to their hearts. They allowed their emotions 
free play. 



224 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

How have you nowhere encountered my Gabriel's boat 

on the bayous?" 
Over Evangeline's face at the words of Basil a shade 

passed. 
Tears came into her eyes, and she said, with a tremulous 

accent, 
''Gone? is Gabriel gone?" and, concealing her face on his 

shoulder. 
All her o'erburdened heart gave way, and she wept and 

lamented. 
Then the good Basil said, — and his voice grew blithe as he 

said it, — 
" Be of good cheer, my child ; it is only to-day he departed. 
Foolish boy ! he has left me alone with my herds and my 

horses. 
Moody and restless grown, and tried and troubled, his 

spirit 
Could no longer endure the calm of this quiet existence, 
Thinking ever of thee, uncertain and sorrowful ever, 
Ever silent, or speaking only of thee and his troubles. 
He at length had become so tedious to men and to maidens, 
Tedious even to me, that at length I bethought me, and 

sent him 
Unto the town of Adayes^ to trade for mules with the 

Spaniards. 
Thence he will follow the Indian trails to the Ozark 

Mountains, 
Hunting for furs in the forests, on rivers trapping the 

beaver. 
Therefore be of good cheer; we will follow the fugitive 

lover ; 

1. Adayes (a-da'yes). A town in Texas. 



EVANGELINE 225 

He is not far on his way, and the Fates^ and the streams 

are against him. 
Up and away to-morrow, and through the red dew of the 

morning 
We will follow him fast, and bring him back to his prison." 

Then glad voices were heard, and up from the banks of 

the river. 
Borne aloft on his comrades' arms, came Michael the 

fiddler. 
Long under Basil's roof had he lived like a god on 

Olympus, 2 
Having no other care than dispensing music to mortals. 
Far renowned was he for his silver locks and his fiddle. 
''Long live Michael," they cried, "our brave Acadian 

minstrel ! " 
As they bore him aloft in triumphal procession; and 

straightway 
Father Felician advanced with Evangeline, greeting the 

old man 
Kindly and oft, and recalling the past, while Basil, en- 
raptured. 
Hailed with hilarious joy his old companions and gossips,' 
Laughing loud and long, and embracing mothers and 

daughters. 
Much they marvelled to see the wealth of the ci-devant* 

blacksmith, 

1. The Fates. The three women who were supposed to control 
the fortunes and destinies of every human being. The term is here 
somewhat freely used to mean chances, or external circumstances. 

2. Olympus (6-lim'pus). A mountain in ancient Greece on 
whose summit the gods were supposed to dwell. 

3. Gossips. Familiar acquaintances. 

4. Ci-devant (se-de-vaN'). Former. [French; ci from ici, here; 
and devant, before.] 

—15 



226 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

All his domains and his herds, and his patriarchal de- 
meanor ;^ 

Much they marvelled to hear his tales of the soil and the 
climate, 

And of the prairies, whose numberless herds were his who 
would take them ; 

Each one thought in his heart, that he, too, would go and 
do likewise. 

Thus they ascended the steps, and crossing the breezy 
veranda, 

Entered the hall of the house, where already the supper of 
Basil 

Waited his late return; and they rested and feasted to- 
gether. 

Over the joyous feast the sudden darkness descended.^ 
All was silent without, and, illuming the landscape with 

silver. 
Fair rose the dewy moon and the myriad stars ; but within 

doors. 
Brighter than these, shone the faces of friends in the 

glimmering lamplight. 
Then from his station aloft, at the head of the table, the 

herdsman 
Poured forth his heart and his wine together in endless 

profusion. 
Lighting his pipe, that was filled with sweet Natchitoches^ 

tobacco, 

1. Patriarchal demeanor. The heads of families in early Biblical 
times were called patriarchs. The poet thinks of Basil with his 
flocks, ruling over his ranch and ranch house, as being like the pa- 
triarchs, who were usually wealthy in flocks and herds. 

2. The sudden darkness descended. In the tropical regions there 
is little or no twilight, and darkness comes on quickly. 

3. Natchitoches (nak'i-tosh). A parish or district of North- 
western Louisiana. 



EVANGELINE 227 

Thus he spake to his guests, who listened, and smiled as 

they listened : — 
''Welcome once more, my friends, who long have been 

friendless and homeless, 
Welcome once more to a home, that is better perchance 

than the old one ! 
Here no hungry winter congeals our blood like the rivers ; 
Here no stony ground provokes the wrath of the farmer. 
Smoothly the plowshare runs through the soil, as a keel 

through the water. 
All the year round the orange-groves are in blossom ; and 

grass grows 
More in a single night than a whole Canadian summer. 
Here, too, numberless herds run wild and unclaimed in the 

prairies ; 
Here, too, lands may be had for the asking, and forests of 

timber 
With a few blows of the axe are hewn and framed into 

houses. 
After your houses are built, and your fields are yellow with 

harvests. 
No King George of England^ shall drive you away from 

your homesteads. 
Burning your dwellings and bams, and stealing your farms 

and your cattle.'* 
Speaking these words, he blew a wrathful cloud from his 

nostrils. 
While his huge, brown hand came thundering down on the 

table, 
So that the guests all started; and Father Felician, 

astounded, 

1. No King George of England. This land at that time be- 
longed to Spain. 



228 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Suddenly paused, with a pinch of snuff half-way to his 

nostrils. 
But the brave Basil resumed, and his words were milder 

and gayer : — 
" Only beware of the fever, my friends, beware of the fever ! 
For it is not like that of our cold Acadian climate. 
Cured by wearing a spider hung round one's neck in a 

nutshell!" 
Then there were voices heard at the door, and footsteps 

approaching 
Sounded upon the stairs and the floor of the breezy 

veranda. 
It was the neighboring Creoles^ and small Acadian 

planters. 
Who had been summoned all to the house of Basil the 

Herdsman. 
Merry the meeting was of ancient comrades and neighbors : 
Friend clasped friend in his arms; and they who before 

were as strangers. 
Meeting in exile, became straightway as friends to each 

other. 
Drawn by the gentle bond of a common country together. 
But in the neighboring hall a strain of music, proceeding 
From the accordant^ strings of Michael's melodious fiddle, 
Broke up all further speech. Away, like children delighted. 
All things forgotten beside, they gave themselves to the 

maddening 
Whirl of the giddy dance, as it swept and swayed to the 

music, ' 

1. Creoles. White settlers descended from the French or Span- 
ish settlers in Louisiana and the other Gulf States. They preserve 
the speech and culture of their ancestors. 

2. Accordant. Harmonious. 



EVANGELINE 229 

Dreamlike, with beaming eyes and the rush of fluttering 
garments. 

Meanwhile, apart, at the head of the hall, the priest and 

the herdsman 
Sat, conversing together of past and present and future ; 
While Evangeline stood like one entranced, for within her 
Olden memories rose, and loud in the midst of the music 
Heard she the sound of the sea, and an irrepressible sadness 
Came o'er her heart, and unseen she stole forth into the 

garden. 
Beautiful was the night. Behind the black wall of the 

forest. 
Tipping its summit with silver, arose the moon. On the 

river 
Fell here and there through the branches a tremulous 

gleam of the moonlight. 
Like the sweet thoughts of love on a darkened and devious 

spirit. 
Nearer and round about her, the manifold flowers of the 

garden 
Poured out their souls in odors, that were their prayers and 

confessions 
Unto the night, as it went its way, like a silent Carthusian.^ 
Fuller of fragrance than they, and as heavy with shadows 

and night-dews, 
Hung the heart of the maiden. The calm and the magical 

moonlight 
Seemed to inundate^ her soul with indefinable longings, 

1. Carthusian (kar-thu'zhan). An order of monks taking their 
name from the village of Chartreuse in France. The members of 
the order are not allowed to go out of their cells except to church, 
and one of their rules is perpetual silence. They talk together 
but once a week, and are not allowed to speak to any one outside 
of the order without permission. 

2. Inundate. Fill to overflowing; flood. 



230 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

As, through the garden-gate, and beneath the shade of 

the oak-trees. 
Passed she along the path to the edge of the measureless 

prairie. 
Silent it lay, with a silvery haze upon it, and fire-flies 
Gleamed and floated away in mingled and infinite num- 
bers. 
Over her head the stars, the thoughts of God in the 

heavens. 
Shone on the eyes of man, who had ceased to marvel and 

worship, 
Save when a blazing comet was seen on the walls of that 

temple. 
As if a hand had appeared and ^ written upon them, 

"Upharsin."! 
And the soul of the maiden, between the stars and the 

fire-flies. 
Wandered alone, and she cried, " Gabriel ! my beloved ! 
Art thou so near unto me, and yet I can not behold thee? 
Art thou so near unto me, and yet thy voice does not reach 

me? 
Ah ! how often thy feet have trod this path to the prairie ! 
Ah! how often thine eyes have looked on the woodlands 

around me! 
Ah! how often beneath this oak, returning from labor, 
Thou hast lain down to rest, and to dream of me in thy 

slumbers ! 
When shall these eyes behold, these arms be folded about 

thee?" 
Loud and sudden and near the notes of a whippoorwill 

sounded 

1. Upharsin (ti-far'sm). One of the words in the mysterious 
"handwriting on the wall" in Belshazzar's banquet hall. See 
Daniel v. 



EVANGELINE 231 

Like a flute in the woods ; and anon, through the neighbor- 
ing thickets, 

Farther and farther away it floated and dropped into 
silence. 

"Patience!'' whispered the oaks from oracular caverns of 
darkness : ^ 

And, from the moonlit meadow, a sigh responded, "To- 
morrow!" 

Bright rose the sun next day; and all the flowers of the 

garden 
Bathed his sl^ining feet with their tears,^ and anointed his 

tresses 
With the delicious balm that they bore in their vases of 

crystal. 
"Farewell!" said the priest, as he stood at the shadowy 

threshold; 
"See that you bring us the Prodigal Son' from his fasting 

and famine. 
And, too, the Foolish Virgin,* who slept when the bride- 
groom was coming." 
"Farewell!" answered the maiden, and, smiling, with 

Basil descended 
Down to the river's brink, where the boatmen already were 

waiting. 
Thus beginning their journey with morning, and sunshine, 

and gladness, 

1. Oracular caverns of darkness. In ancient Greece the gods 
were supposed to reveal the future to mortals through oracles. 
These oracles were frequently located in caves. 

2. Bathed his shining feet with their tears. See Luke vii, 37-38. 

3. Prodigal Son. See Luke xv, 11-32. 

4. Foolish Virgin. See Matthew xxv, 1-13. 



232 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Swiftly they followed the flight of him who was speeding 
before them, 

Blown by the blast of fate like a dead leaf over the desert. 

Not that day, nor the next, nor yet the day that succeeded, 

Found they the trace of his course, in lake or forest or 
river, 

Nor, after many days, had they found him ; but vague and 
uncertain 

Rumors alone were their guides through a wild and 
desolate country ; 

Till, at the little inn of the Spanish town of Adayes, 

Weary and worn, they alighted, and learned from the 
garrulous^ landlord, 

That on the day before, with horses and guides and com- 
panions, 

Gabriel left the village, and took the road of the prairies. 

IV 

Far in the West^ there lies a desert land, where the 

mountains 
Lift, through perpetual snows, their lofty and luminous 

summits. 
Down from their jagged, deep ravines, where the gorge, 

like a gateway. 
Opens a passage rude to the wheels of the emigrant's 

wagon. 
Westward the Oregon^ flows and the Walleway^ and 

Owyhee.^ 

1. Garrulous. Talkative. 

2. Far in the West. The poet here refers to that vast region of 
the United States including and lying west of the Rocky Mountains. 

3. The Oregon. The Columbia River. 

4. The Walkway (w6re-wa). Probably the Walla Walla, which 
flows into the Columbia in the State of Washington. 

5. The Owyhee (o-wi'he). A tributary of the Sijake River. 



EVANGELINE 233 

Eastward, with devious course, among the Wind-river 

Mountains, 1 
Through the Sweet-water Valley^ precipitate leaps the 

Nebraska; 
And to the south, from Fontaine-qui-bout^ and the Spanish 

sierras,^ 
Fretted with sands and rocks, and swept by the wind of 

the desert. 
Numberless torrents, with ceaseless sound, descend to the 

ocean. 
Like the great chords of a harp, in loud and solemn vibra- 
tions. 
Spreading between these streams are the wondrous, 

beautiful prairies; 
Billowy bays of grass ever rolling in shadow and sunshine. 
Bright with luxuriant clusters of roses and purple amor- 

phas.^ 
Over them wandered the buffalo herds, and the elk and 

the roebuck ; 
Over them wandered the wolves, and herds of riderless 

horses ; 
Fires that blast and blight, and winds that are weary 

with travel ; 

1. Wind-river Mountains, A range of the Rocky Mountains in 
Wyoming. 

2. Sweet-water Valley. The valley of the Sweet-water River, 
which rises in the Wind-river Mountains and empties into the 
North Platte. 

3. Fontaine-qui-hout (foN'-ten-ke-boo'). [French; boiling spring.] 
A spring in central Colorado. 

4. Spanish sierras. A range of the Rocky Mountains in New 
Mexico and Colorado. Sierras are mountains with jagged tops. 

5. Amorphas. False indigo plants. 



234 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Over them wander the scattered tribes of IshmaeFs 
children/ 

Staining the desert with blood; and above their terrible 
war-trails 

Circles and sails aloft, on pinions majestic, the vulture, 

Like the implacable^ soul of a chieftain slaughtered in 
battle, 

By invisible stairs ascending and scaling the heavens. 

Here and there rise smokes from the camps of these savage 
marauders ; 

Here and there rise groves from the margins of swift- 
running rivers ; 

And the grim, taciturn' bear, the anchorite^ monk of the 
desert. 

Climbs down their dark ravines to dig for roots by the 
brook-side. 

And over all is the sky, the clear and crystalline heaven, 

Like the protecting hand of God inverted above them. 

Into this wonderful land, at the base of the Ozark 

Mountains, 
Gabriel far had entered, with hunters and trappers behind 

him. 
Day after day, with their Indian guides, the maiden and 

Basil 
Followed his flying steps, and thought each day to overtake 

him. 

1. Scattered tribes of Ishmael's children. The Indians are here 
compared to the descendants of Ishmael, who, with his mother 
Hagar, was banished as a wanderer by Abraham. See Genesis 
xxi, 14. 

2. Implacable. Relentless; unyielding. 

3. Taciturn. Silent; reserved. 

4. Anchorite. One who renounces the world to live in seclusion. 



EVANGELINE 235 

Sometimes they saw, or thought they saw, the smoke of 

his camp-fire 
Rise in the morning air from the distant plain; but at 

nightfall, 
When they had reached the place they found only embers 

and ashes. 
And, though their hearts were sad at times and their 

bodies were weary, 
Hope still guided them on, as the magic Fata Morgana^ 
Showed them her lakes of light, that retreated and 

vanished before them. 

Once, as they sat by their evening fire, there silently 
entered 
Into their little camp an Indian woman, whose features 
Wore deep traces of sorrow, and patience as great as her 

sorrow. 
She was a Shawnee^ woman returning home to her people, 
From the far-off hunting-grounds of the cruel Camanches,' 
Where her Canadian husband, a Coureur-des-Bois, had 

been murdered. 
Touched were their hearts at her story, and warmest and 

friendliest welcome 
Gave they, with words of cheer, and she sat and feasted 

among them 
On the buffalo-meat and the venison cooked on the embers. 
But when their meal was done, and Basil and all his com- 
panions, 

1. Fata Morgana (fa'ta m6r-ga'na). The Italian name of a 
phenomenon consisting of an appearance in the air over the sea of 
objects on the neighboring coast; a mirage. 

2. Shawnee. An Indian tribe belonging to the Algonquin 
family. 

3. Camanches (also spelled Comanches). An Indian tribe of 
Texas and New Mexico, very fierce and warlike. 



236 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Worn with the long day's inarch and the chase of the deer 

and the bison, 
Stretched themselves on the ground, and slept where the 

quivering fire-light 
Flashed on their swarthy cheeks, and their forms wrapped 

up in their blankets, 
Then at the door of Evangeline's tent she sat and repeated 
Slowly, with soft, low voice, and the charm of her Indian 

accent. 
All the tale of her love, with its pleasures, and pains, and 

reverses. 
Much Evangeline wept at the tale, and to know that 

another 
Hapless heart like her own had loved and had been dis- 
appointed. 
Moved to the depths of her soul by pity and woman's 

compassion. 
Yet in her sorrow pleased that one who had suffered was 

near her. 
She in turn related her love and all its disasters. 
Mute with wonder the Shawnee sat, and when she had 

ended 
Still was mute ; but at length, as if a mysterious horror 
Passed through her brain, she spake, and repeated the tale 

of the Mowis ; ^ 
Mowis, the bridegroom of snow, who won and wedded a 

maiden, 
But, when the morning came, arose and passed from the 

wigwam, 
Fading and melting away and dissolving into the sun- 
shine. 
Till she beheld him no more, though she followed far into 

the forest. 

1. Mowis (mo'wes). 



EVANGELINE 237 

Then, in those sweet, low tones, that seemed like a weird 

incantation, 1 
Told she the tale of the fair Lilinau,^ who was wooed by a 

phantom. 
That through the pines o'er her father's lodge, in the hush 

of the twilight. 
Breathed like the evening wind, and whispered love to the 

maiden, 
Till she followed his green and waving plume through the 

forest. 
And nevermore returned, nor was seen again by her people. 
Silent with wonder and strange surprise, Evangeline 

listened 
To the soft flow of her magical words, till the region around 

her 
Seemed like enchanted ground, and her swarthy guest the 

enchantress. 
Slowly over the tops of the Ozark Mountains the moon 

rose. 
Lighting the little tent, and with a mysterious splendor 
Touching the sombre leaves, and embracing and filling the 

woodland. 
With a delicious sound the brook rushed by, and the 

branches 
Swayed and sighed overhead in scarcely audible whispers. 
Filled with the thoughts of love was Evangeline's heart, 

but a secret. 
Subtile sense crept in of pain and indefinite terror. 
As the cold, poisonous snake creeps into the nest of the 

swallow. 
It was no earthly fear. A breath from the region of spirits 

1. Weird incantation. A strange, unearthly chant. 

2. Lilinau (le'li-no). 



238 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Seemed to float in the air of night; and she felt for a 

moment 
That, like the Indian maid, she, too, was pursuing a 

phantom. 
With this thought she slept, and the fear and the phantom 

had vanished. 

Early upon the morrow the march was resumed; and 

the Shawnee 
Said, as they journeyed along, "On the western slope of 

these mountains 
Dwells in his little village the Black Robe chief of the 

Mission.^ 
Much he teaches the people, and tells them of Mary and 

Jesus. 
Loud laugh their hearts with joy, and weep with pain, as 

they hear him." 
Then, with a sudden and secret emotion, Evangeline 

answered, 
" Let us go to the Mission, for there good tidings await us ! " 
Thither they turried their steeds ; and behind a spur of the 

mountains, 
Just as the sun went down, they heard a murmur of voices, 
And in a meadow green and broad, by the bank of a river. 
Saw the tents of the Christians, the tents of the Jesuit 

Mission.* 
Under a towering oak, that stood in the midst of the 

village, 

1. The Black Robe chief of the Mission. A reference to the 
Jesuit priest who conducted the mission. He wore a long black 
robe, the customary garb of the Jesuit priests. 

2. Jesuit Mission. The Jesuits were members of a religious 
order founded by Ignatius Loyola in the sixteenth century. Their 
lives were devoted to missionary work. French priests of this order 
were among the early missionaries to the Indians. 



EVANGELINE 239 

Knelt the Black Robe chief with his children. A crucifix 

fastened 
High on the trunk of the tree, and overshadowed by grape- 
vines, 
Looked with its agonized face on the multitude kneeling 

beneath it. 
This was their rural chapel. Aloft, through the intricate 

arches 
Of its aerial roof, arose the chant of their vespers, ^ 
Mingling its notes with the soft susurrus^ and sighs of the 

branches. 
Silent, with heads uncovered, the travelers, nearer ap- 
proaching. 
Knelt on the swarded^ floor, and joined in the evening 

devotions. 
But when the service was done, and the benediction had 

fallen 
Forth from the hands of the priest, like seed from the hands 

of the sower. 
Slowly the reverend man advanced to the strangers, and 

bade them 
Welcome ; and when they replied, he smiled with benignant 

expression. 
Hearing the homelike sounds of his mother-tongue in the 

forest. 
And, with words of kindness, conducted them into his 

wigwam. 
There upon mats and skins they reposed, and on cakes of 

the maize-ear 
Feasted, and slaked their thirst from the water-gourd of 

the teacher. 

1. Vespers. The evening service of the Catholic Church. 

2. Susurrus (sti-siir'ttz). Continued hissing sound; whispers. 

3. Swarded. Grass covered. 



240 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Soon was their story told; and the priest with solemnity- 
answered : — 

''Not six suns have risen and set since Gabriel, seated 

On this mat by my side, where now the maiden reposes, 

Told me this same sad tale; then arose and continued 
his journey!" 

Soft was the voice of the priest, and he spake with an 
accent of kindness ; 

But on Evangeline's heart fell his words as in winter the 
snow-flakes 

Fall into some lone nest from which the birds have de- 
parted. 

'''Far to the north he has gone," continued the priest; "but 
in autumn. 

When the chase is done, will return again to the Mission." 

Then Evangeline said, and her voice was meek and sub- 
missive, 

*' Let me remain with thee, for my soul is sad and afflicted." 

So seemed it wise and well unto all; and betimes on the 
morrow, 

Mounting his Mexican steed, with his Indian guides and 
companions. 

Homeward Basil retiirned, and Evangeline stayed at the 
Mission. 

Slowly, slowly, slowly the days succeeded each other, — 
Days and weeks and months ; and the ;fields of maize that 

were springing 
Green from the ground when a stranger she came, now 

waving above her, 
Lifted their slender shafts, with leaves interlacing, and 

forming 



EVANGELINE 241 

Cloisters^ for mendicant^ crows and granaries pillaged^ by 

squirrels. 
Then in the golden weather the maize was husked, and the 

maidens 
Blushed at each blood-red ear, for that betokened a lover, 
But at the crooked laughed, and called it a thief in the 

corn-field. 
Even the blood-red ear to Evangeline brought not her 

lover. 
''Patience!" the priest would say; "have faith, and thy 

prayer will be answered ! 
Look at this vigorous plant that lifts its head from the 

meadow. 
See how its leaves are turned to the north, as true as the 

magnet ; 
This is the compass-flower,^ that the finger of God has 

planted 
Here in the houseless wild, to direct the traveler's journey 
Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the desert. 
Such in the soul of man is faith. The blossoms of passion. 
Gay and luxuriant flowers, are brighter and fuller of 

fragrance, 
But they beguile us, and lead us astray, and their odor is 

deadly. 
Only this humble plant can guide us here, and hereafter 

1. Cloisters. The long, arched-over passages in monasteries in 
which the monks walked for exercise; hence, quiet, secluded places. 

2. Mendicant. Begging. The friars who lived in the monas- 
teries lived on alms received from the people. 

3. Pillaged. Robbed. 

4. Compass-flower. Our common rosin weed. The edges of the 
broad lower leaves are said always to stand to the north and south. 



-16 



242 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Crown us with asphodel flowers, that are wet with the 
dews of nepenthe." ^ 

So came the autumn, and passed, and the winter, — yet 

Gabriel came not; 
Blossomed the opening spring, and the notes of the robin 

and bluebird 
Sounded sweet upon wold^ and in wood, yet Gabriel came 

not. 
But on the breath of the summer winds a rumor was wafted 
Sweeter than song of bird, or hue or odor of blossom. 
Far to the north and east, it said, in the Michigan 

forests, 
Gabriel had his lodge by the banks of the Saginaw River.^ 
And, with returning guides, that sought the lakes of St. 

Lawrence,^ 
Saying a sad farewell, Evangeline went from the Mission. 
When over weary ways, by long and perilous marches, 
She had attained at length the depths of the Michigan 

forests. 
Found she the hunter's lodge deserted and fallen to ruin ! 

Thus did the long sad years glide on, and in seasons 
and places 
Divers and distant far was seen the wandering maiden ; — 

1. Asphodel (as'fo-del). In Greek mythology, the special flower 
of the dead. The fields of Elysium were supposed to be covered 
with asphodel flowers. 

2. Nepenthe. A magic drink formerly believed to make persons 
forget their sorrows. 

3. Wold. A plain; a country without woods. 

4. Saginaw River. A river of Michigan which flows into Saginaw 
Bay. 

5. The lakes of St. Lawrence. The Great Lakes. 



EVANGELINE 243 

Now in the Tents of Grace of the meek Moravian^ Mis- 
sions, 

Now in the noisy camps and the battle-fields of the army,^ 

Now in secluded hamlets, in towns and populous cities. 

Like a phantom she came, and passed away unremembered. 

Fair was she and young, when in hope began the long 
journey; 

Faded was she and old, when in disappointment it ended. 

Each succeeding year stole something away from her 
beauty, 

Leaving behind it, broader and deeper, the gloom and the 
shadow. 

Then there appeared and spread faint streaks of gray o^er 
her forehead. 

Dawn of another life, that broke o'er her earthly horizon, 

As in the eastern sky the first faint streaks of the morning. 

V 

In that delightful land which is washed by the Dela- 
ware waters,^ 
Guarding in sylvan shades the name of Penn the apostle,* 
Stands on the banks of its beautiful stream the city he 

founded.^ 
There all the air is balm, and the peach is the emblem of 
beauty, 

1. Moravian. The name of a religious body which had its 
origin in Moravia, Austria, at the time of the Reformation. The 
Moravians are distinguished for their humble piety and their mis- 
sionary zeal. 

2. The battle-fields of the army. The battle-fields of the Revo- 
lutionary War. 

3. Delaware waters. The Delaware River forms the eastern 
boundary of the State of Pennsylvania. 

4. Penn the apostle. William Penn, the founder of the Pennsyl- 
vania colony. 

6. City he founded. Philadelphia. 



244 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

And the streets still reecho the names of the trees of the 
forest/ 

As if they fain would appease the Dryads^ whose haunts 
they molested. 

There from the troubled sea had Evangeline landed, an 
exile, 

Finding among the children of Penn a home and a country. 

There old Rene Leblanc had died ; and when he departed. 

Saw at his side only one of all his hundred descendants. 

Something at least there was in the friendly streets of the 
city. 

Something that spake to her heart, and made her no longer 
a stranger ; 

And her ear was pleased with the Thee and Thou of the 
Quakers, 

For it recalled the past, the old Acadian country. 

Where all men were equal, and all were brothers and 
sisters. 

So, when the fruitless search, the disappointed endeavor, 

Ended, to recommence no more upon earth, uncom- 
plaining. 

Thither, as leaves to the light, were turned her thoughts 
and her footsteps. 

As from the mountain's top the rainy mists of the morning 

Roll away, and afar we behold the landscape below us, 

Sun-illumined, with shining rivers and cities and hamlets. 

So fell the mists from her mind, and she saw the world far 
below her. 

Dark no longer, but all illumined with love ; and the path- 
way 

1. The streets still reecho the names of the trees of the forest. Many 
of the streets of Philadelphia are named from the trees of the forest, 
such as Oak, Elm, Chestnut. 

2. Dryads. Nymphs of the woods; female deities who presided 
over the woods. 



EVANGELINE 245 

Which she had climbed so far, lying smooth and fair in the 
distance. 

Gabriel was not forgotten. Within her heart was his 
image, 

Clothed in the beauty of love and youth, as last she beheld 
him, 

Only more beautiful made by his death-like silence and 
absence. 

Into her thoughts of him time entered not, for it was not. 

Over him years had no power; he was not changed, but 
transfigured ; 

He had become to her heart as one who is dead, and not 
absent ; 

Patience and abnegation^ of self, and devotion to others. 

This was the lesson a life of trial and sorrow had taught 
her. 

So was her love diffused, but, like to some odorous spices, 

Suffered no waste nor loss, though filling the air with 
aroma. 

Other hope had she none, nor wish in life, but to follow 

Meekly, with reverent steps, the sacred feet of her Saviour. 

Thus many years she lived as a Sister of Mercy ; ^ fre- 
quenting 

Lonely and wretched roofs in the crowded lanes of the city, 

Where distress and want concealed themselves from the 
sunlight, 

Where disease and sorrow in garrets languished neglected. 

Night after night, when the world was asleep, as the watch- 
man repeated 

1. Abnegation. Denial; renunciation. 

2. Sister of Mercy. A nun; one of an order of women belonging 
to the Catholic Church, bound by religious vows to spend their lives 
in doing acts of charity and mercy. 



246 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Loud, through the gusty streets, that all was well in the 

city,i 
High at some lonely window he saw the light of her taper. 
Day after day, in the gray of the dawn, as slow through 

the suburbs 
Plodded the German farmer, with flowers and fruits for 

the market, 
Met he that meek, pale face, retiu'ning home from its 

watchings. 

Then it came to pass that a pestilence fell on the city,^ 
Presaged^ by wondrous signs, and mostly by flocks of wild 

pigeons, 
Darkening the sun in their flight, with naught in their 

craws but an acorn. 
And, as the tides of the sea arise in the month of Septem- 
ber, 
Flooding some silver stream, till it spreads to a lake in the 

meadow. 
So death flooded life, and, o'erflowing its natural margin, 
Spread to a brackish^ lake, the silver stream of existence. 
Wealth had no power to bribe, nor beauty to charm, the 

oppressor ; 
But all perished alike beneath the scourge of his anger ; — 
Only, alas ! the poor, who had neither friends nor attend- 
ants, 

1. That all was well in the city. In the early days watchmen 
patroled the city at night and called the hours. At midnight the 
call was, "Twelve o'clock and all is well." 

2. A pestilence fell on the city. Philadelphia was visited by a 
terrible scourge of yellow fever in 1793. 

3. Presaged (pre-sajd'). Foretold. 

4. Brackish. Distasteful; nauseous. 



EVANGELINE 247 

Crept away to die in the almshouse/ home of the homeless. 
Then in the suburbs it stood, in the midst of meadows and 

woodlands ; — 
Now the city surrounds it ; but still, with its gateway and 

wicket^ 
Meek, in the midst of splendor, its humble walls seem to 

echo 
Softly the words of the Lord : " The poor ye always have 

with you." 
Thither, by night and by day, came the Sister of Mercy. 

The dying 
Looked up into her face, and thought, indeed, to behold 

there 
Gleams of celestial light encircle her forehead with 

splendor, 
Such as the artist paints o'er the brows of saints and 

apostles. 
Or such as hangs by night o'er a city seen at a distance. 
Unto their eyes it seemed the lamps of the city celestial. 
Into whose shining gates ere long their spirits would enter. 

Thus, on a Sabbath mom, through the streets, deserted 
and silent. 

Wending her quiet way, she entered the door of the alms- 
house. 

Sweet on the summer air was the odor of flowers in the 
garden; 

And she paused on her way to gather the fairest among 
them, 

1. Almshouse. The old Friend's almshouse, which stood on 
Walnut street, is thought by some to have been the scene of Evan- 
geline's ministrations and of her meeting with Gabriel. 

2. Wicket. A small gate placed in or near a larger gate. 



248 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

That the dying once more might rejoice in their fragrance 

and beauty. 
Then, as she mounted the stairs to the corridors, cooled 

by the east-wind, 
Distant and soft on her ear fell the chimes from the belfry 

of Christ Church, 
While, intermingled with these, across the meadows were 

wafted 
Sounds of psalms, that were sung by the Swedes in their 

church at Wicaco.^ 
Soft as descending wings fell the calm of the hour on her 

spirit: 
Something within her said, "At length thy trials are 

ended ; " 
And, with light in her loolcs, she entered the chambers of 

sickness. 
Noiselessly moved about the assiduous,^ careful attend- 
ants. 
Moistening the feverish lip, and the aching brow, and in 

silence 
Closing the sightless eyes of the dead, and concealing 

their faces, 
Where on their pallets they lay, like drifts of snow by the 

roadside. 
Many a languid head, upraised as Evangeline entered, 
Turned on its pillow of pain to gaze while she passed, for 

her presence 
Fell on their hearts like a ray of the sun on the walls of a 

prison. 
And, as she looked around, she saw how Death, the con- 
soler, 
Laying his hand upon many a heart, had healed it forever. 

1. Wicaco (we-ka'ko). 

2. Assiduous (a-sid'u-iis). Diligent; attentive. 



EVANGELINE 249 

Many familiar forms had disappeared in the night time; 
Vacant their places were, or filled already by strangers. 

Suddenly, as if arrested by fear or a feeling of wonder, 

Still she stood, with her colorless lips apart, while a shudder 

Ran through her frame, and, forgotten, the flowerets 
dropped from her fingers. 

And from her eyes and cheeks the light and bloom of the 
morning. 

Then there escaped from her lips a cry of such terrible 
anguish, 

That the dying heard it, and started up from their pillows. 

On the pallet before her was stretched the form of an old 
man. 

Long, and thin, and gray were the locks that shaded his 
temples ; 

But, as he lay in the morning light, his face for a moment 

Seemed to assume once more the forms of its earlier man- 
hood; 

So are wont to be changed the faces of those who are dying. 

Hot and red on his lips still burned the flush of the fever. 

As if life, like the Hebrew, with blood had besprinkled its 
portals. 

That the Angel of Death might see the sign, and pass over.^ 

Motionless, senseless, dying, he lay, and his spirit ex- 
hausted 

Seemed to be sinking down through infinite depths in the 
darkness, 

Darkness of slumber and death, forever sinking and sink- 
ing. 

Then through those realms of shade, in multiplied rever- 
berations, 

1. Might see the sign, and pass over. See Exodus xii, 3-14. 



250 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Heard he that cry of pain, and through the hush that 

succeeded 
Whispered a gentle voice, in accents tender and saint-Hke, 
''Gabriel! my beloved!" and died away into silence. 
Then he beheld, in a dream, once more the home of his 

childhood; 
Green Acadian meadows, with sylvan rivers among them, 
Village, and mountain, and woodlands ; and, walking under 

their shadow, 
As in the days of her youth, Evangeline rose in his vision. 
Tears came into his eyes ; and as slowly he lifted his eyelids, 
Vanished the vision away, but Evangeline knelt by his 

bedside. 
Vainly he strove to whisper her name, for the accents un- 

uttered 
Died on his lips, and their motion revealed what his tongue 

would have spoken. 
Vainly he strove to rise ; and Evangeline, kneeling beside 

him, 
Kissed his dying lips, and laid his head on her bosom. 
Sweet was the light of his eyes ; but it suddenly sank into 

darkness. 
As when a lamp is blown out by a gust of wind at a case- 
ment. 

All was ended now, the hope, and the fear, and the 

sorrow. 
All the aching of heart, the restless, unsatisfied longing. 
All the dull, deep pain, and constant anguish of patience ! 
And, as she pressed once more the lifeless head to her 

bosom. 
Meekly she bowed her own, and murmured, "Father, I 

thank thee!" 



EVANGELINE 251 

Still stands the forest primeval; but far away from its 

shadow, 
Side by side, in their nameless graves, the lovers are 

sleeping. 
Under the humble walls of the little Catholic churchyard, 
In the heart of the city, they lie, unknown and unnoticed. 
Daily the tides of life go ebbing and flowing beside them, 
Thousands of throbbing hearts, where theirs are at rest 

and forever, 
Thousands of aching brains, where theirs no longer are 

busy, 
Thousands of toiling hands, where theirs have ceased from 

their labors, 
Thousands of weary feet, where theirs have completed 

their journey ! 

Still stands the forest primeval ; but under the shade of 

its branches 
Dwells another race, with other customs and language. 
Only along the shore of the mournful and misty Atlantic 
Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from exile 
Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom. 
In the fisherman's cot the wheel and the loom are still 

busy; 
Maidens still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles of 

homespun, 
And by the evening fire repeat Evangeline's story. 
While from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced, neighboring 

ocean 

Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the 

forest. 

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 



252 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

EXERCISES 
Prelude and Part the First 



1. Words for definition and study: primeval, hemlocks, Druids, 
eld, harpers, roe, tradition, incessant, peasants, tranquil, anon, 
incense, kine, home-brewed, turret, chaplet, missal, heirloom, 
ethereal, woodbine, wains, antique, odorous, suitor, knocker, craft, 
pedagogue, forge, cranny, sledges, fledglings, valiant. 

2. Locate on a map Acadia, Bay of Fundy, Basin of Minas, 
the Gaspereau River, and the site of the village of Grand-Pr6. 

3. V/hat is the purpose of the Prelude? 

4. Describe a primeval forest. 

5. Describe the village of Grand-Pr6 and its surroundings. 

6. Describe the Acadian people, their manner of living, their 
occupations, and their dress. 

7. Explain, "There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived 
in abundance." 

8. Describe the home of Evangeline. 

9. Explain, *'the barns, themselves a village." 

10. Tell the story of Peter and the crowing of the cock. 

11. Describe the blacksmith and his shop. In what other 
selections of literature is the blacksmith prominent? 

12. Describe the childhood of Evangeline and Gabriel. 

13. How old was Evangeline at the beginning of the story? 

II 

1. Words for definition and study: desolate, tropical, inclement, 
hoarded, advent, magical, new-created, consoled, sheen, instinct, 
stragglers, regent, fetlocks, saddles, cadence, valves, smoke- 
wreaths, fantastic, clumsily, dresser, treadles, chant, settle, 
ballad, forebodings, mandate, untimely, dubious. 

2. What is meant by "the retreating sun"? 

3. Tell the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel. 

4. Describe the coming of autumn. 

5. What signs of a long, hard winter are mentioned? Explain 
these signs. Give other similar signs. 

6. Describe the coming of the herds to the homestead. 

7. Why was the hay from the marshes briny? 

8. Describe the scene about Benedict's fireplace before the 
coming of Basil and Gabriel; after their coming. 

9. How did Basil regard the arrival of the ships? In what way 
did Benedict try to explain their presence? 

10. Compare Benedict and Basil. 



EVANGELINE 253 

11. Why were the people alarmed at the order to assemble in 
the church to hear the mandate of the King? 

12. For what purpose had Basil and Gabriel come to the house 
of Benedict? Why did Benedict wish the evening of the contract 
to be free from "shadow of sorrow"? 

Ill 

1. Words for definition and study: maize, supernal, languished, 
warier, guile, goblin, unchristened, writ, irascible, emblem, magpie, 
dower, manoeuvre, infinite, curfew, spacious, tremulous, serenely. 

2. Describe the notary public. Why was he especially loved 
by children ? Explain the expression, "bent, but not broken by age." 

3. Compare the ideas of right and justice as expressed by the 
blacksmith with those of the notary. Which was right? Why? 

4. Give in your own words the story told by the notary, and 
explain its meaning. 

5. Explain, "all his thoughts were congealed into lines on his 
face, as the vapors freeze in fantastic shapes on the window-panes 
in the winter." 

6. Why was the notary necessary in drawing up the marriage 
contract? 

7. Give evidences of Benedict's generous nature. 

8. Why did the "linen and woollen stuffs" Evangeline had 
woven seem more precious to her than the dower of flocks and herds 
given by her father? 

9. What is suggested by "a feeling of sadness" that passed 
over Evangeline after the signing of the contract? 

IV 

1. Words for definition and study: clamorous, hamlets, jocund, 
greensward, betrothal, vibrant, sonorous, portal, dissonant, 
clangor, commission, convened, clement, forfeited, transported, 
solstice, sling, imprecations, spar, distorted, allegiance, tumult, 
mien, tocsin, alarum, profane, assail, contrition, tapers, translated, 
splendor, emblazoned, ambrosial. 

2. Explain, "clamorous labor knocked with its hundred hands 
at the golden gates of the morning." 

3. What brought the people together? Why did they come in 
"their holiday dresses"? 

4. Explain, "all things were held in common, and what one 
had was another's." 

5. Why did hospitality seem "more abundant" at Benedict's 
house? 

6. Describe the feast of betrothal. 

7. What effect is gained by placing the announcement of the 
exile immediately after the betrothal? 



254 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

8. What was the order of the King regarding the Acadians? 
What reasons were there for issuing such an order? Were these 
reasons sufficient to justify the order? Why? 

9. What were the effects of the order on the Acadian men? 
Explain how the men in the church were calmed by Father Felician. 

10. What effect had the news of the order on the women and 

children? 

11. What did Evangeline do? What does this reveal regarding 
her? 

12. What was the message of "the voice of the echoing thunder 
to Evangeline"? What was its effect? 

V 

1. Words for definition and study: ply, pilgrims, mischances, 
aspect, endearment, embarking, refluent, waifs, kelp, gypsy, leaguer, 
sentinels, nethermost, Melita, haggard, wan, Benedicite, unper- 
turbed, roadstead, martyr, gleeds, sheeted, anguish, encampments, 
oblivious, trance, dirges, ebb. 

2. Describe the coming of the Acadian women to the village. 

3. Why did the men sing as they came from the church? 

4. Describe the embarkation. 

5. Describe the scene on the shore at the end of the first day 
of embarkation. 

6. Describe the burning of the village of Grand-Pr6. 

7. Describe the flight of the herds and the horses. 

8. Why was the effect of the order of exile so overwhelming on 
Benedict? 

Part the Second 



1. Words for definition and study: freighted, household gods, 
asunder, savannas, mammoth, extinguished, emigrant, bleach, 
inarticulate, Coureurs-des-Bois, voyageur, shards, essay. Muse, 
devious, sylvan. 

2. Where were the Acadians taken? 

3. What caused many of them to wander over the country? 
Give the extent of their wanderings. 

4. Explain how "The Father of Waters seizes the hills in his 
hands, and drags them down to the ocean." 

5. Tell of the wanderings of Evangeline. 

6. Describe the life of the Coureurs-des-Bois, and of the voy- 
ageur. 

7. Explain, "that which the fountain sends forth returns again 
to the fountain." 

8. What was the "labor" and the "work of affection," that 
the priest advised Evangeline to accomplish? 



EVANGELINE 255 

9. What did he say would be the results of this accomplishment? 

10. What was the voice that whispered, "Despair not"? 

11. How does Longfellow propose to tell the story of Evangeline's 
wanderings? 

II 

1. Words for definition and study: cumbrous, kith, sombre, 
chutes, lagoons, sand-bars, wimpling, pelicans, planters, perpetual, 
bayou, tenebrous, herons, demoniac, cypress, vaults, mimosa, prow, 
peradventure, colonnades, corridors, multitudinous, reverberant, 
whoop, myriads, undulations, lotus, magnolia, embowered, cope, 
trumpet-flower, celestial, bison, beaver, legibly, oblivion, palmettos, 
tholes, credulous, fancy, buoy, delirious, Bacchantes, derision, 
prelude. 

2. How much time had elapsed between the exile and the 
journey of the exiles down the river? 

3. Why did the exiles go to Louisiana? 

4. Give the route they followed. Why was this route taken? 

5. Describe the country through which they passed. 

6. Explain Evangeline's strange belief that Gabriel had been 
near her. 

7. Why does Father Felician advise Evangeline to *' trust to 
her heart and to what the world calls illusions"? 

8. Describe the song of the mocking-bird. 

Ill 

1. Words for definition and study: mystic, yule-tide, cordage, 
gaiters, doublet, sombrero, misgivings, tedious, fugitive, Olympus, 
hilarious, ci-devant, domains, patriarchal, provokes, homesteads, 
astounded, fever, veranda, Creoles, accordant, entranced, manifold, 
Carthusian, inundate, comet, whippoorwill, oracular, anointed, 
garrulous. 

2. Describe Basil's southern home. 

3. Compare the appearance of Basil on his ranch with his 
former appearance in the village of Grand-Pre. 

4. Describe the welcome given the exiles. 

5. Why had Gabriel gone? 

6. Explain Basil's enthusiasm for his new home. 

7. Describe the evening scene when Evangeline "stole forth 
into the garden." 

8. Explain, "and the soul of the maiden, between the stars and 
the fire-flies, wandered alone." 

9. What were her thoughts and feelings at this time? 

IV 
1. Words for definition and study: precipitate, sierras, torrents, 



256 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

amorphas, blight, pinions, implacable, scaling, marauders, taciturn, 
anchorite, crystalline, venison, hapless, weird, incantation, en- 
chanted, audible, Jesuit, aerial, susurrus, swarded, benignant, 
water-gourd, betimes, interlacing, mendicant, granaries, betokened, 
beguile, asphodel, nepenthe. 

2. What region is described in the first part of this division? 
Locate the rivers mentioned. 

3. What kind of region was this at the time when the events 
narrated in the poem took place? 

4. Explain the reference to "the scattered tribes of Ishmael's 
children." 

5. Tell the story of the Shawnee woman. Which had suffered 
the greater misfortune, she or Evangeline? Give reasons for your 
answer. 

6. Tell the story of the "Mowis," and of the "fair Lilinau." 
Explain Evangeline's feeling after hearing these stories. 

7. How long did Evangeline remain at the Jesuit Mission? 
What caused her to leave? 

8. Where did she then go? What did she find? 

9. Trace her wanderings after that. 

10. How long a time is occupied by the events of this division 
of the poem? 

V 

1. Words for definition and study: apostle, appease, abnegation, 
garrets, suburbs, presaged, brackish, almshouse, wicket, wending, 
assiduous, pallets, consoler, flowerets, casement. 

2. Why did the Quakers in Philadelphia recall to Evangeline 
her old Acadian home? 

3. How did Evangeline think of Gabriel at this time? 

4. What lessons had her life of trial taught her? 

5. Describe the work Evangeline was doing. 

6. If the pestilence referred to in the poem was the one that 
occurred in Philadelphia in 1793, how many years had passed since 
she had left Acadia? How old was she? 

7. Explain, "wealth had no power to bribe, nor beauty to 
charm the oppressor." 

8. Why was Evangeline especially fitted to care for those who 
were suffering? 

9. Had Evangeline's life and search been in vain? Give 
reasons for your answer. 

10. How could Evangeline say, "Father, I thank thee" on the 
death of Gabriel? 



THE DEATH OF A TITAN 257 

THE DEATH OF A TITAN ^ 

Alexander Dumas (1803-1870) was one of the leading French 
writers of the first half of the nineteenth century. A large number 
of romances bear his name, but perhaps not more than half of them 
can be truly said to be his productions. For some of them he 
sketched the plots and other writers produced the books. In still 
other cases he edited the works submitted by other authors, and 
these works went out bearing his name. 

"The Three Musketeers" was written by Dumas himself. In 
this book he created four of the most vivid characters in literature, 
D'Artagnan, Athos, Aramis and Porthos. These same characters 
he carries through a number of his romances. 

"The Death of a Titan" is taken from "The Man in the Iron 
Mask." This book, while it bears the name of Dumas as author, 
is not included in the authenticated list of his works. It has to do, 
however, with the four great characters Dumas created in "The 
Three Musketeers." Porthos, the hero of that chapter from "The 
Man in the Iron Mask" which constitutes this story, "was the 
most unselfish, the simplest, the strongest of the great quartet, and 
he had the greatest heart." 

Aramis and Porthos, fleeing from the soldiers of Louis XIV., to 
escape arrest for political offenses, had entered the grotto of Loc- 
maria, which had an outlet leading to the sea. They were accom- 
panied by four Bretons and hoped to escape from their pursuers by 
boat. They were followed into the cave by sixteen soldiers, five 
of whom were killed by musket fire. A second attack resulted in 
the loss of another five. By this time a troop of eighty soldiers had 
come up, and a third company entered the cave. Porthos placed 
himself beside a narrow entrance which they had to pass as they 
advanced, and slew ten with an iron bar. The others retired. By 
that time an entire brigade of the King's troops had approached 
the cave, and preparations were being made to send another com- 
pany into the cave \vith lights. 

THE DEATH OF A TITAN 

At the moment when Porthos,^ more accumstomed to 
the darkness than all these men coming from open day- 

1. A Titan. One having gigantic strength. 

2. Porthos (por-tos'). 

—17 



258 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

light, was looking round him to see if in this night Aramis^ 
were not making him some signal, he felt his arm gently 
touched, and a voice low as a breath murmured in his ear: 

"Come!" 

"Oh!" saidPorthos. 

"Hush!" said Aramis, if possible, still more softly. 

And amid the noise of the third brigade, which con- 
tinued to advance, amid the imprecations of the guards 
left alive, of the dying, rattling their last sigh, Aramis and 
Porthos glided imperceptibly^ along the granite walls of the 
cavern. Aramis led Porthos into the last but one com- 
partment,-^ and showed him, in a hollow of the rocky wall, 
a barrel of powder weighing from seventy to eighty pounds, 
to which he had just attached a match.'^ 

"My friend," said he to Porthos, "you will take this 
barrel, the match of which I am going to set fire to, and 
throw it amid our enemies; can you do so?" 

'^Parhleu!"'^ replied Porthos, and he lifted the barrel 
with one hand. " Light it ! " 

"Stop," said Aramis, "till they are all massed together, 
and then, my Jupiter, <^ hurl your thunderbolt among 
them!" 

"Light it," repeated Porthos. 

"On my part," continued Aramis, "I will join our 
Bretons,^ and help them to get the canoe to the sea. I will 

1. Aramis (ar-a-mes')- 

2. Imperceptibly. So gradually as not to be noticed. 

3. Compartment. A room or chamber of the cave. 

4. Match. A fuse of cotton wicking or other material, used 
ordinarily for firing cannons. 

5. Parbleu (par-blu'). A polite French oath. 

6. Jupiter. The chief god of the ancient Romans. His favorite 
weapon was the thunderbolt. 

7. Bretons (bret'unz or bre'tunz). Natives of the province of 
Brittany, in Northwest France. 



THE DEATH OF A TITAN 259 

wait for you on the shore ; launch it strongly, and hasten 
to us." 

'* Light it," said Porthos a third time. 

"But do you understand me?" 

^'Parbleu!" said Porthos again, with laughter that he 
did not even attempt to restrain; "when a thing is ex- 
plained to me, I understand it; be gone, and give me the 
light." 

Aramis gave the burning match to Porthos, who held 
out his arm to him, his hands being engaged. Aramis 
pressed the arm of Porthos with both his hands, and fell 
back to the outlet of the cavern where the three rowers 
awaited him. 

Porthos, left alone, applied the spark bravely to the 
match. The spark — a feeble spark, first principle of a 
conflagration — shone in the darkness like a firefly, then 
was deadened against the match which it inflamed, 
Porthos enlivening the flame with his breath. The smoke 
was a little dispersed, and by the light of the sparkling 
match objects might, for two seconds, be distinguished. 
It was a short but a splendid spectacle,^ that of this giant, 
pale, bloody, his countenance lighted by the fire of the 
match burning in surrounding darkness. The soldiers saw 
him — they saw the barrel he held in his hand — they at 
once understood what was going to happen. Then, these 
men, already filled with terror at the sight of what had 
been accomplished — filled with terror at thinking of what 
was going to be accomplished — threw forth together one 
shriek of agony. Some endeavored to fly, but they en- 
countered the third brigade which barred their passage; 
others mechanically took aim and attempted to fire their 
discharged muskets ; others fell upon their knees. Two or 

1. Spectacle. A remarkable sight. 



260 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

three officers cried out to Porthos to promise him his 
hberty if he would spare their hves. The heutenant of 
the third brigade commanded his men to fire; but the 
guards had before them their terrified companions, who 
served as a living rampart for Porthos. We have said that 
the light produced by the spark and the match did not 
last more than two seconds ; but during these two seconds 
this is what it illumined — ^in the first place, the giant 
enlarged in the darkness; then, at ten paces from him, a 
heap of bleeding bodies, ^ crushed, mutilated, in the midst 
of whom still lived some last struggle of agony, which lifted 
the mass as a last respiration raises the sides of a shapeless 
monster expiring in the night. Every breath of Porthos, 
while enlivening the match, sent toward this heap of 
bodies a sulphureous hue, mingled with streaks of purple. 
In addition to this principal group, scattered about the 
grotto, as the chance of death or the surprise of the blow 
had stretched them, some isolated^ bodies seemed to 
threaten by their gaping wounds. Above the ground, 
soaked by pools of blood, rose, heavy and sparkling, the 
short, thick pillars of the cavern, of which the strongly 
marked shades threw out the luminous particles. And all 
this was seen by the tremulous light of a match attached to 
a barrel of powder, that is to say, a torch which, while 
throwing a light upon the dead past, showed the death to 
come. 

As I have said, this spectacle did not last above two 
seconds. During this short space of time an officer of the 
third brigade got together eight men armed with muskets, 
and, through an opening, ordered them to fire upon Por- 
thos. But they who received the order to fire trembled so 

1. A heap of bleeding bodies. The bodies of the men Porthos had 
killed with the iron bar. 

2. Isolated. Separated; detached from others. 



THE DEATH OF A TITAN 261 

that three guards fell by the discharge, and the five other 
balls went hissing to splinter the vault, plow the ground, 
or indent the sides of the cavern. 

A burst of laughter replied to this volley ; then the arm 
of the giant swung round ; then was seen to pass through 
the air, Hke a falling star, the train of fire. The barrel, 
hurled a distance of thirty feet, cleared the barricade^ of 
the dead bodies, and fell amid a group of shrieking soldiers, 
who threw themselves on their faces. The officer had fol- 
lowed the brilliant train in the air ; he endeavored to pre- 
cipitate himself^ upon the barrel and tear out the match 
before it reached the powder it contained. Useless de- 
votttdness ! ^ The air had made the flame attached to the 
conductor^ more active ; the match, which at rest might 
have burned five minutes, was consumed in thirty seconds, 
and the infernal work exploded. Furious vortices,^ hissings 
of sulphur and niter, ^ devouring ravages of the fire which 
caught to objects, the terrible thunder of the explosion, 
this is what the second which followed the two seconds we 
have described disclosed in that cavern, equal in horrors to 
a cavern of demons. The rock split like planks of deaP 
under the ax. A jet of fire, smoke, and debris^ sprang up 
from the middle of the grotto, enlarging as it mounted. 
The large walls of silex^ tottered and fell upon the sand, 

1. Barricade. Any obstruction or barrier closing a passage. 

2. Precipitate himself. Hurl himself headlong. 

3. Useless devotedness. The officer had sacrificed himself in a 
vain attempt to save his men. 

4. Conductor. The match or fuse attached to the barrel. 

5. Vortices (vor'ti-sez). Masses of rotating or whirling fluid. 

6. Sulphur and niter. Ingredients used in making explosives. 

7. Planks of deal. Planks or boards made of pine, fir, or other 
soft wood. 

8. Debris (da-bre'). Accumulated fragments; ruins; rubbish. 

9. Silex. Silica, a white or colorless, extremely hard crystalline 
rock. 



262 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

and the sand itself, an instrument of pain when launched 
from its hardened bed, riddled the face with its myriads of 
cutting atoms. Cries, howling imprecations, and exist- 
ences^ — all were extinguished in one immense crash. 

The three first compartments became a gulf into which 
fell back again, according to its weight, every vegetable, 
mineral, or human fragment. Then the lighter sand and 
ashes fell in their turns, stretching like a gray winding- 
sheet^ and smoking over those dismal funerals. And now, 
seek in this burning tomb, in this subterraneous volcano, 
seek for the King's guards with their blue coats laced with 
silver. Seek for the officers brilliant in gold ; seek for the 
arms upon which they depended for their defense ; seek for 
the stones that have killed them, the ground that has borne 
them. One single man has made of all this a chaos^ more 
confused, more shapeless, more terrible than the chaos 
which existed an hour before God had created the world. 
There remained nothing of the three compartments — 
nothing by which God could have known His own work. 
As to Porthos, after having hurled the barrel of powder 
amid his enemies, he had fled, as Aramis had directed him 
to do, and had gained the last compartment, into which 
air, light, and sunshine penetrated through the opening. 
Therefore, scarcely had he turned the angle which separ- 
ated the third compartment from the fourth, than he per- 
ceived, at a hundred paces from him, the bark dancing 
on the waves; there were his friends, there was liberty, 
there was life after victory. Six more of his formidable 
strides, and he would be out of the vault ; out of the vault ! 
two or three vigorous springs, and he would reach the 

1. Existences. Lives. 

2. Winding-sheet. A sheet used to wrap a corpse. 

3. Chaos. A state of utter disorder and confusion. 



THE DEATH OF A TITAN 263 

canoe. Suddenly he felt his knees give way; his knees 
appeared powerless, his legs to yield under him. 

"Oh, oh!" murmured he, *' there is my fatigue^ seizing 
me again! I can walk no further! What is this?" 

Aramis perceived him through the opening, and unable 
to conceive what could induce him to stop thus: 

"Come on, Porthos! come on/' he cried; "come 
quickly!" 

"Oh!" replied the giant, making an effort which acted 
upon every muscle of his body — "oh! but I can not." 

While saying these words, he fell upon his knees; but 
with his robust hands he clung to the rocks, and raised 
himself up again. 

"Quick, quick!" repeated Aramis, bending forward to- 
ward the shore, as if to draw Porthos toward him with his 
arms. 

"Here I am," stammered Porthos, collecting all his 
strength to make one step more. 

"In the name of Heaven! Porthos, make haste! the 
barrel will blow up!" 

"Make haste, monseigneur ! "^ shouted the Bretons to 
Porthos, who was floundering as in a dream. 

But there was no longer time ; the explosion resounded, 
the earth gaped, the smoke which rushed through the large 
fissures^ obscured the sky ; the sea flowed back, as if driven 
by the blast of fire which darted from the grotto as if from 
the jaws of a gigantic chimera t the reflux^ carried the bark 

1. My fatigue. A weakness or sinking spell which afflicted 
Porthos in his later years. 

2. Monseigneur (moN-se-nyur'; English pronounciation, mon- 
sen'yer.) My lord. A title given in France to princes, prelates and 
certain church and state dignitaries. 

3. Fissures. Openings; cracks. 

4. Chimera (kl-me'ra). A fire-breathing monster of Greek 
mythology, described as a combination of lion, goat and serpent. 

5. The reflux. The flowing back of the sea. 



264 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

out twenty toises,^ the rocks cracked to their base, and 
separated like blocks beneath the operation of wedges; a 
portion of the vault was carried up toward heaven, as if by 
rapid currents ; the rose-colored and green fire of the sul- 
phur, the black lava of the argillaceous^ liquefactions^ 
clashed and combated for an instant beneath a majestic 
dome of smoke; then, at first oscillated,^ then declined, 
then fell successively the long angles of rock which the 
violence of the explosion had not been able to uproot from 
their bed of ages; they bowed to one another like grave 
and slow old men, then, prostrating themselves, imbedded 
forever in their dusty tomb. 

This frightful shock seemed to restore to Porthos the 
strength he had lost ; he arose, himself a giant among these 
giants. But at the moment he was flying between the 
double hedge of granite phantoms, these latter, which were 
no longer supported by the corresponding Hnks, began to 
roll with a crash around this Titan, who looked as if pre- 
cipitated from heaven amid rocks which he had just been 
launching at it. Porthos felt the earth beneath his feet 
shaken by this long rending. He extended his vast hands 
to the right and left to repulse the falling rocks. A gigantic 
block was held back by each of his extended hands ; he bent 
his head and a third granite mass sunk between his two 
shoulders. For an instant the arms of Porthos had given 
way, but the Hercules^ united all his forces, and the two 

1. Toises (twaz). A toise is a French measure of length, equal- 
ing a little more than six feet. 

2. Argillaceous (ar-ji-la'shiis). Consisting of clay; clay-like. 

3. Liquefactions. That which has been converted into or exists 
as a liquid. The intense heat of the explosion had melted or liquefied 
the soil. 

4. Oscillated. Swung back and forth; vibrated. 

5. Hercules. A national hero of Greece, regarded as the in- 
carnation of manly strength. The name is used of any one who 
exhibits great strength. 



THE DEATH OF A TITAN 265 

walls of the prison in which he was buried fell back slowly 
and gave him place. For an instant he appeared in this 
frame of granite like the ancient angel of chaos, but in 
pushing back the lateral rocks/ he lost his point of support 
for the monolith which weighed upon his strong shoulders, 
and the monolith,^ lying upon him with all its weight, 
brought the giant down upon his knees. The lateral rocks, 
for an instant pushed back, drew together again, and 
added their weight to the primitive weight which would 
have been sufficient to crush ten men. The giant fell with- 
out crying for help; he fell while answering Aramis with 
words of encouragement and hope, for, thanks to the 
powerful arch of his hands, for an instant, he might believe 
that, like Enceladus,^ he should shake off the triple load. 
But by degrees Aramis saw the block sink; the hands 
strung for an instant, the arms, stiffened for a last effort, 
gave way, the extended shoulders sank, wounded and torn, 
and the rock continued to lower gradually. 

"Porthos! Porthos!" cried Aramis, tearing his hair. 
" Porthos ! where are you? Speak ! " 

"There, there!'' murmured Porthos, with a voice grow- 
ing evidently weaker, ''patience, patience!" 

Scarcely had he pronounced these words, when the im- 
pulse of the fall augmented^ the weight ; the enormous rock 
sank down, pressed by the two others which sank in from 
the sides, and, as it were, swallowed up Porthos in a sepul- 
cher of broken stones. On hearing the dying voice of his 

1. Lateral rocks. Rocks on the sides. 

2. Monolith (mon'o-lith). A single piece or block of stone. 

3. Enceladus (en-seFa-diis). Enceladus was one of the sons of 
Earth who fought against the gods. As a punishment he was buried 
under Mt. JEtna. The ancients believed that the eruptions of this 
mountain were caused by Enceladus undertaking to ease himself 
of the burden by turning himself and shifting the great load. 

4. Augmented. Added to; increased. 



266 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

friend, Aramis had sprung to land. Two of the Bretons 
followed him, with each a lever in his hand — one being 
sufficient to take care of the bark. The last rattles of the 
valiant struggler guided them amid the ruins. Aramis, 
animated, active, and young as at twenty, sprang toward 
the triple mass, and with his hands, delicate as those of a 
woman, raised by a miracle of vigor a comer of the im- 
mense sepulcher of granite. Then he caught a glimpse, 
in the darkness of that grave, of the still brilliant eye of his 
friend, to whom the momentary lifting of the mass restored 
that moment of respiration. The two men came rushing 
up, grasped their iron levers, united their triple strength, 
not merely to raise it, but to sustain it. All was useless. 
The three men slowly gave way with cries of grief, and the 
rough voice of Porthos, seeing them exhaust themselves in 
a useless struggle, murmured, in a jeering tone, those 
supreme words which came to his lips with the last res- 
piration : 

"Too heavy!" 

After which the eye darkened and closed, the face be- 
came pale, the hand whitened, and the Titan sank quite 
down, breathing his last sigh. With him sank the rock, 
which, even in his agony, he had still held up. The three 
men dropped the levers, which rolled upon the tumulary^ 
stone. Then, breathless, pale, his brow covered with 
sweat, Aramis listened, his breath oppressed, his heart 
ready to break. 

Nothing more! The giant slept the eternal sleep, in 
the sepulcher which God had made to his measure. 

— Alexander Dumas. 

1. Tumulary. Having the form of a mound. 



THE DEATH OF A TITAN 267 



EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: brigade, compartments, 
parbleu, thunderbolts, Breton, principle, conflagration, dispersed, 
spectacle, mechanically, discharged, muskets, ramparts, illumined, 
mutilated, respiration, sulphureous, principal, luminous, discharge, 
barricade, devotedness, conductor, infernal, work, vortices, ravages, 
deal, grotto, silex, riddled, gulf, funerals, subterraneous, chaos, 
formidable, fatigue, robust, floundering, fissures, gigantic, reflux, 
lava, oscillated, Hercules, monolith, augmented. 

2. In what straits did Aramis and Porthos find themselves at 
the opening of the story? 

3. What plan had Aramis for extricating them from the diffi- 
culty? What did this involve so far as the soldiers were concerned? 

4. What is meant by "first principle of a conflagration"? 

5. Describe the scene revealed when Porthos lighted the match. 

6. What efforts were made to defeat Porthos? What were the 
results of these efforts? 

7. Describe the explosion and the scene that followed. 

8. How did Porthos hope to save himself? What prevented? 

9. How is the gigantic strength of Porthos revealed? 

10. What does the story reveal in regard to Porthos' character? 



268 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE 

Charles Wolfe (1791-1823) was an Irish clergyman and 
poet. "The Burial of Sir John Moore," the only one of his works 
now widely read, was written in 1816, in the rooms of Samuel 
0' Sullivan, a college friend. 

Sir John Moore w^as an English General noted for his skill in 
training men. He served in the English army in the American 
Revolution from 1778 to the close of the war. He was killed 
January 16, 1809, at Coruna, Spain, in a battle between the English 
and the army of Napoleon. In accordance with his expressed wish 
he was buried by his comrades on the battle-field at night. A monu- 
ment was erected to his memory in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, 
and a stone marks the spot where he was buried at Coruna. 



THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE 

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, 
As his corse ^ to the rampart we hurried; 

Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot 
O'er the grave where our hero we buried. 

We buried him darkly at dead of night, 
The sods with our bayonets turning, 

By the struggling moonbeams' misty light, 
And the lantern dimly burning. 

No useless coffin inclosed his breast, 
Nor in sheet ^ nor in shroud we wound him; 

But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, 
With his martial cloak around him. 

Few and short were the prayers we said, 
And we spoke not a word of sorrow ; 

But we steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead. 
And we bitterly thought of the morrow. 

1. Corse (k6rs). A poetic word for "corpse." 

2. Sheet. Winding-sheet; a sheet in which corpses are wrapped 



THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE 269 

We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed, 
And smoothed down his lonely pillow. 

That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er 
his head. 
And we far away on the billow. 

Lightly they '11 talk of the spirit that 's gone, 
And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him ; 

But little he '11 reck, ^ if they let him sleep on 
In the grave where a Briton has laid him. 

But half of our heavy task was done 
When the clock struck the hour for retiring ; 

And we heard the distant and random gun 
That the foe was sullenly firing. 

Slowly and sadly we laid him down, 

From the field of his fame fresh and gory ; 

We carved not a line, we raised not a stone, 
But we left him alone with his glory. 

— Charles Wolfe. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: corse, discharged, bayonets, 
shroud, cmartial, steadfastly, billow, ashes, reck, Briton, random, 
gory. 

2. Why was there no roll of drum or discharge of gun at this 
burial? Why did it occur at dead of night? 

3. Describe the digging of the grave? 

4. Why was the funeral so simple? 

5. Why were no words of sorrow spoken? 

6. What caused the bitterness in their thought of "the morrow"? 

7. What is suggested regarding the hero by the last two lines of 
the poem? 

8. Which is the greater memorial of Sir John Moore, this poem 
or the monument erected to his memory in St. Paul's Cathedral, 
London? 

1. Reck. Care; take heed. 



270 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD 

Theodore O'Hara (1820-1867) was an American poet, born in 
Kentucky. He served as a soldier in the Mexican War, and later 
in the Confederate army during the Civil War. This poem, written 
when the remains of the Kentucky soldiers who had fallen in the 
battle of Buena Vista were removed to their native State, is the 
only writing of O'Hara's that is generally known. 



THE BIVOUAC 1 OF THE DEAD 

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat 

The soldier's last tattoo ; ^ 
No more on Life's parade^ shall meet 

That brave and fallen few. 
On Fame's eternal camping-ground 

Their silent tents are spread, 
And Glory guards, with solemn round, 

The bivouac of the dead. 

No rumor of the foe's advance 

Now swells upon the wind ; 
No troubled thought at midnight haimts 

Of loved ones left behind ; 
No vision of the morrow's strife 

The warrior's dream alarms ; 
No braying horn nor screaming fife 

At dav/n shall call to arms. 

1. Bivouac (biv'wak). The watch of an army by night. 

2. Tattoo. A call sounded on drum and fife, trumpet, or bugle, 
giving notice to soldiers to repair to their quarters. 

3. Parade. Parade ground; place where troops are assembled 
for marching and other exercises. 



THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD 271 

Their shivered swords are red with rust, 

Their plumed heads are bowed ; 
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust, 

Is now their martial shroud. 
And plenteous funeral tears have washed 

The red stains from each brow, 
And the proud forms, by battle gashed, 

Are free from anguish now. 

The neighing troop, the flashing blade, 

The bugle's stirring blast. 
The charge, the dreadful cannonade. 

The din and shout, are past; 
Nor war's wild note nor glory's peal 

Shall thrill with fierce delight 
Those breasts that nevermore may feel 

The rapture of the fight. 

Like the fierce northern hurricane 

That sweeps his great plateau. 
Flushed with the triumph yet to gain, 

Came down the serried^ foe. 
Who heard the thunder of the fray 

Break o'er the field beneath, 
Knew well the watchword of that day 

Was "Victory or Death." 

Long had the doubtful conflict raged 

O'er all that stricken plain, 
For never fiercer fight had waged 

The vengeful blood of Spain ; 
And still the storm of battle blew. 

Still swelled the gory tide ; 

1. Serried. Crowded; compact. 



272 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Not long, our stout old chieftain^ knew, 
Such odds his strength could bide.^ 

'T was in that hour his stern command 

Called to a martyr's grave 
The flower of his beloved land, 

The nation's flag to save. 
By rivers of their fathers' gore 

His first-born laurels^ grew, 
And well he deemed the sons would pour 

Their lives for glory too. 

Full many a norther's breath has swept 

O'er Angostura's plain,^ 
And long the pitying sky has wept 

Above its mouldered slain. 
The raven's scream, or eagle's flight 

Or shepherd's pensive lay. 
Alone awakes each sullen height 

That frowned o'er that dread fray. 

Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground,^ 

Ye must not slumber there. 
Where stranger steps and tongues resound 

Along the heedless air. 

1. Stout old chieftain. General Zackary Taylor, a native of 
Kentucky, who commanded the American forces at Buena Vista. 

2. Bide. Withstand. 

3. First-horn laurels. General Taylor had commanded Kentucky 
soldiers in the War of 1812, and had won a victory over the Indians. 

4. Angostura's plain (an-gos-too'ra). A pass near the battle- 
field of Buena Vista, Mexico. 

5. Dark and Bloody Ground. Kentucky is an Indian word mean- 
ing dark and bloody ground. It was so called because it was the 
meeting place for the northern and southern Indians, where some 
of their fiercest battles were fought. 



THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD 

Your own proud land's heroic soil 

Shall be your fitter grave : 
She claims from war his richest spoil — 

The ashes of her brave. 

Thus 'neath their parent turf they rest, 

Far from the gory field, 
Borne to a Spartan mother's breast 

On a many a bloody shield ; ^ 
The sunshine of their native sky 

Smiles sadly on them here. 
And kindred eyes and hearts watch by 

The heroes' sepulcher. 

Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead ! 

Dear as the blood ye gave ; 
No impious- footstep here shall tread 

The herbage of your grave ; 
Nor shall your glory be forgot 

While Fame her record keeps. 
Or Honor points the hallowed spot 

Where Valor proudly sleeps. 

Yon marble minstrel's voiceless stone 

In deathless song shall tell, 
When many a vanished age hath flown. 

The story how ye fell ; 



1. On many a bloody shield. The Spartans were the most war- 
like of the ancient Greek peoples. It is said that the Spartan 
mothers when sending their sons forth to battle admonished them 
to "return with their shields or on them." 

2. ImpioiLS (im'pi-ws). Irreverent. 



—18 



274 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight, 

Nor time's remorseless doom. 
Shall dim one ray of glory's light 

That gilds your deathless tomb. 

— Theodore O'Hara. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: muffled, tatoo, eternal, 
bivouac, rumor, haunts, shivered, haughty, plenteous, cannonade, 
hurricane, plateau, serried, watchword, stricken, vengeful, bide, 
laurels, deemed, norther, mouldered, pensive, fitter, turf, sepulcher, 
embalmed, impious, Honor, Valor. 

2. In what battle were the men eulogized in this poem slain? 
In what war was this? 

3. Explain, "muffled drum." 

4. Explain, "life's parade." 

5. What is meant by "Fame's eternal camping-ground"? 

6. What are the "silent tents"? 

7. Explain, "Glory guards, with solemn round." 

8. What is suggested by, " troubled thought at midnight . , . 
of loved ones left behind"? 

9. What were the "red stains" washed from each\brow? 

10. What is "war's wild note"? "Glory's peal"? 

11. Explain, "flushed with the triumph yet to gain." 

12. Explain, "the vengeful blood of Spain." 

13. Who was, "our stout old chieftain"? 

14. Why did the commander have great confidence in his troops? 

15. What is the "richest spoil" of war? 



THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS 

The Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 3 and 4, 1863, was the most 
important battle of the Civil War, and one of the greatest battles 
of all history. Large numbers of soldiers slain in the battle were 
buried on the battle-field, and a portion of the field was set aside 
by the United States Government as a national cemetery. 

November 19, 1863, was set as the date for the dedication of 
the cemetery. Edward Everett, the famous orator, was the speaker 
chosen for the occasion. President Lincoln was asked to be present 
and to make a short address, consecrating the ground. He carefully 



THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS 275 

prepared his address for the occasion. Mr. Everett preceded Mr. 
Lincoln with a masterly address of more than two hours. It was a 
trying position for the President, and it is said that after the cere- 
monies were over he felt that he had failed in his part. 

The day after the exercises Mr. Everett wrote President Lincoln 
a note of congratulation in which he said, "I should be glad if I 
could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the 
occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes." The great 
orator was right. To-day one seldom hears of Everett's address at 
the dedication of the national cemetery at Gettysburg, but President 
Lincoln's short address has become a classic known to every school- 
boy. 

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS 

Fourscore and seven years ago^ our fathers brought 
forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, 
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created 
equal. 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether 
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, 
can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of 
that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that 
field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their 
lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting 
and proper that we should do this. 

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can 
not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The 
brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have 
consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. 
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say 
here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for 
us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished 
work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly 
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the 

1. Fourscore and seven years ago. Eighty-seven years before 
1863, or 1776, was the year in which the Declaration of Independence 
was signed. 



276 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

great task remaining before us — that from these honored 
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which 
they gave the last full measure of devotion — ^that we here 
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain 
— that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of 
freedom — and that government of the people, by the 
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

— Abraham Lincoln. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: conceived, dedicated, propo- 
sition, consecrate, detract, devotion. 

2. In what ways did the nation, established by our forefathers, 
differ from other nations? 

3. Why was the Civil War a test as to whether any free nation 
could endure? 

4. Why was it especially fitting that a portion of the battle- 
field should be dedicated as a resting place for the soldiers who died 
there? 

5. Why could those who took part in the exercises, not in a 
''larger sense," hallow the ground? 

6. In what way had the men who had engaged in the battle 
consecrated the ground? 

7. What did Lincoln mean when he said, "It is for us the 
living, rather to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they 
who fought here have so nobly advanced"? 

8. How could they take "increased devotion" from "these 
honored dead"? 

9. What is meant by "the last full measure of devotion"? 

10. How was it possible for them to bring about that the dead 
should "not have died in vain"? 

11. What did Lincoln mean by a new birth of freedom? 



CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! 

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was born on Long Island. When 
he was four years old his father removed to Brooklyn. Young 
Whitman studied in the public schools. Later he learned the 
printers' trade, taught school, and edited a newspaper. His early 
verse attracted little attention, but in 1855 his "Leaves of Grass" 
created much discussion. During the Civil War Whitman per- 



captain! my captain! 277 

manently impaired his health by three years of service as a volunteer 
army nurse in and about Washington. After the war Whitman 
was appointed to a government clerkship in Washington, and held 
the position until his health failed. He died at Camden, New 
Jersey, and was buried beneath an imposing tomb designed by 
himself. 

The surrender of Lee's army, which practically ended the Civil 
War, occurred April 9, 1865. President Lincoln was assassinated 
April 14, just at the moment of the triumph of the cause for which 
he had striven through four years of war and bloodshed. Whitman 
was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, and wrote "0 Captain! 
My Captain!" on Lincoln's death. The poem shows Whitman's 
appreciation of Lincoln's wonderful leadership, and expresses a 
keen sense of personal loss. 

O CAPTAIN ! MY CAPTAIN ! 

Captain ! my Captain ! our fearful trip is done, 

The ship has weather 'd every rack, the prize we sought 

is won, 
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, 
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and 
daring ; 
But heart ! heart ! heart ! 

the bleeding drops of red. 

Where on the deck my Captain lies, 
Fallen cold and dead. 

Captain ! my Captain ! rise up and hear the bells ; 
Rise up — for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle trills. 
For you bouquets and ribbon 'd wreaths — for you the shores 

a-crowding. 
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces 
turning ; 
Here Captain ! dear father ! 

This arm beneath your head ! 

It is some dream that on the deck, 
You Ve fallen cold and dead. 



278 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still. 

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, 

The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed 

and done. 

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won ; 

Exult shores, and ring bells ! 

But I with mournful tread, 

Walk the deck my Captain lies. 

Fallen cold and dead. 

—Walt Whitman. 

From "Leaves of Grass." Used by permission of the publisher, 
David McKay. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: weather'd, rack, exulting, 
keel, grim, trills, a-crowding. 

2. What is meant by "weather'd every rack"? 

3. What is "the prize we sought"? 

4. What is meant by "the port is near"? Why are "the peo- 
ple all exulting"? 

5. Explain, " ribbon 'd wreaths." 

6. Why does the poet say, "It is some dream that on the deck 
you've fallen cold and dead"? 

7. Explain, "The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage 
closed and done." 

8. What was the "fearful trip" of "the victor ship"? 

9. What does the poem reveal of the poet's feeling toward 
Abraham Lincoln? 



QUIVERA 

Eugene F. Ware (1841-1911) was born at Hartford, Connecti- 
cut. He grew up at Burlington, Iowa, where he learned the harness 
maker's trade. He was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil 
War and attained the rank of Captain. 

In 1867 Ware moved to Fort Scott, Kansas, where he opened a 
harness and saddlery shop. He studied law, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1871. In 1872 he became editor of the Fort Scott Moni- 
tor. In 1879 Ware was elected to the State Senate. He filled various 
other political positions, the most important of which was that of 



QUIVERA 279 

United States Pension Commissioner, to which he was appointed in 
1902. He resigned this position in 1905, and returned to Kansas 
and resumed his law practice, which he continued until his death. 

Immediately after he was admitted to the bar Ware began con- 
tributing poems to the newspapers, under the name of Ironquill. 
He is perhaps the best known Kansas poet. Three London editions 
of his poems have been published. Many of his poems relate to 
Kansas subjects. 

Ware made a translation of Castaneda's account of Coronado's 
expedition, giving us the first English version of the most accurate 
detailed account of the expedition. After translating Castaneda's 
work Ware was inspired to give the story to the world in poetic form 
in Quivera. 

QUIVERA^ 

In that half -forgotten era,^ 

With the avarice of old, 

Seeking cities^ he was told 

Had been paved with yellow gold, 
In the kingdom of Quivera — 

Came the restless Coronado 
To the open Kansas plain, 
With his knights from sunny Spain ; 
In an effort that, though vain, 

Thrilled with boldness and bravado. '^ 

1. Quivera. The name of a tribe of Indians whose home was in 
what is now Kansas. The word here applies to the domain, or 
kingdom, occupied by these Indians. 

2. Era. Historical period. 

3. Seeking cities. Coronado, a Spanish explorer, in 1541 set out 
from a Spanish settlement on the west coast of Mexico, with an 
army of 300 mounted Spaniards and about 1000 friendly Indians, 
to search for seven cities, reports of whose fabulous wealth had come 
to him from a number of sources. On this expedition he went as 
far into the interior of the continent as Kansas. The point reached 
by the expedition is supposed to be somewhere near Junction City. 
See "A History of Kansas," Arnold, chapter I. 

4. Bravado (bra-va'do). Boastful behavior. 



280 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

League^ by league, in aimless inarching, 
Knowing scarcely where or why, 
Crossed they uplands drear and dry. 
That an unprotected sky 

Had for centuries been parching. 

But their expectations, eager. 
Found, instead of fruitful lands, 
Shallow streams and shifting sands, 
Where the buffalo in bands 

Roamed o'er deserts dry and meager. 

Back to the scenes more trite, ^ yet tragic. 
Marched the knights with armor'd^ steeds ; 
Not for them the quiet deeds ; 
Not for them to sow the seeds 

From which empires grow like magic. 

Never land so hunger-stricken 
Could a Latin race^ re-mold ; 
They could conquer heat or cold- 
Die for glory or for gold — 

But not make a desert quicken. 

1. League. A measure of length varying in different countries. 
In the United States it is usually regarded as about three miles. 
Here it is used poetically, and no definite value can be assigned to it. 

2. Trite. Commonplace. 

3. Armored. Protected by armor. 

4. Latin race. A term applied to any one of a number of races 
in Southwestern Europe who speak languages derived from the Latin. 
The French, Spanish and Italian are the most important Latin races. 



QUIVERA 281 

Thus Quivera was forsaken ; 
And the world forgot the place 
Through the lapse of time and space. 
Then the blue-eyed Saxon^ race 

Came and bade the desert waken. 

And it bade the climate vary ; 

And awaiting no reply 

From the elements on high, 

It with plows besieged the sky — 
Vexed the heavens with the prairie. 

Then the vitreous^ sky relented, 
And the unacquainted rain 
Fell upon the thirsty plain, 
Whence had gone the knights of Spain, 

Disappointed, discontented. 

Sturdy are the Saxon faces, 

As they move along in line ; 

Bright the rolling-cutters^ shine, 

Charging up the State's incline, 
As an army storms a glacis.^ 

1. The blue-eyed Saxon race. The author refers to the English 
who are descended from the Saxons. The Saxons, who lived in 
Northern Germany, were characterized by blue eyes and flaxen hair. 

2. Vitreous. Glassy; resembling glass; clear. 

3. Rolling-cutter. A flat circular disk with sharpened edge, at- 
tached to the beam of a plow for cutting the sod so that it may be 
turned more easily. 

4. Glacis (gla'sis). A gentle slope of earth directly in front of 
a fortification. Troops attacking the fortification as they ascend 
the glacis must do so under fire of all the guns on that side of the 
fortification. 



282 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Into loam^ the sand is melted, 
And the blue-grass takes the loam, 
Round about the prairie home; 
And the locomotives roam 

Over landscapes iron-belted. 

Cities grow where stunted birches 

Hugged the shallow water-line ; 

And the deepening rivers twine 

Past the factory and mine, 
Orchard slopes and schools and churches. 

Deeper grows the soil and truer, 

More and more the prairie teems 

With a fruitage as of dreams ; 

Clearer, deeper, flow the streams. 
Blander^ grows the sky and bluer. 

We have made the State of Kansas, 
And to-day she stands complete — 
First in freedom, first in wheat ; 
And her future years will meet 

Ripened hopes and richer stanzas. 

— Eugene F. Ware. 

From "Rhymes of Ironquill," by Eugene F. Ware. Used by 
permission of E. H. Ware. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: half-forgotten, era, avarice, 
bravado, league, drear, parching, meager, trite, tragic, armored, 
empires, hunger-stricken, lapse, Saxon, bade, vary, elements, vexed, 
vitreous, relented, unacquainted, sturdy, rolling-cutters, incline, 
glacis, loam, landscapes, iron-belted, stunted, twine. 

1. Loam. A soil consisting of a mixture of sand, clay and 
decayed vegetable or animal matter. 

2. Blander. Gentler; more soothing. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 283 

2. Why is the time of Coronado called a half -forgotten era? 

3. What was the kingdom of Qui vera? 

4. Trace the route of Coronado. Describe the region over 
which he passed as it was then; as it is now. 

5. Explain, "uplands drear and dry, that an unprotected sky 
had for centuries been parching." 

6. Why could not Coronado and his followers build an empire 
in the country he traversed? 

7. Why did the Saxon succeed where the Spaniard had failed? 

8. Explain, "bade the climate vary." 

9. Explain how the "blue-eyed Saxon race" "with plows be- 
sieged the sky?" 

10. What is meant by "vexed the heavens with the prairie"? 

11. Explain, "landscapes iron-belted." 

12. In what sense may Kansas be said to be "first in freedom"? 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 

Mrs. Margaret Hill McCarter is a native of Indiana. She 
prepared herself for the teaching profession by finishing the course 
in the Indiana State Normal School, and spent a portion of the years 
of her early womanhood as a teacher, first in the high schools of 
Indiana and later in the high school at Topeka, Kansas. When 
Mrs. McCarter gave up teaching she continued to interest herself 
in educational work, and has for a number of years taken an 
active part in the women's club work of the State. She is popular 
as a platform speaker. 

Mrs. McCarter began writing in 1901, in which year appeared 
"A Bunch of Things Tied up With Strings." A number of short 
stories, including "Cuddy and Other Folks," "Cuddy's Baby," 
"The Cottonwood's Story," and "In Old Quivera," followed and 
were popular, particularly with Kansas readers. Mrs. McCarter's 
first novel, "The Price of the Prairie," from which the following 
selection is taken, appeared in 1910. It at once became popular, 
not only in Kansas, but throughout the country, and gave Mrs. 
McCarter a recognized place among the story-writers of our country. 
"A Wall of Men," equally popular, appeared in 1912, and "A 
Master's Degree" in 1913. Her latest book, "Winning the Wilder- 
ness," is just off the press. Mrs. McCarter's stories all have to do 
with Kansas, its life and early history, and perhaps no other writer 



284 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

has done more to make the people of Kansas understand and appre- 
ciate the struggles of the Kansas pioneers. 

In the early days of Kansas statehood Indian raids on the fron- 
tier settlements were common. In 1868 a body of Indians made 
up of members from various tribes attacked the settlers in the 
Solomon and Saline valleys, killed a number of people, drove away 
horses, and made captives of two white women. At about the 
same time scouts reported to General Philip Sheridan, who had 
command of the United States soldiers in that vicinity, that a band 
of two hundred and fifty Indians were entering the northwest 
frontier of the State. Colonel George A. Forsyth of General 
Sheridan's staff received orders to form a company of picked men 
to meet this band and protect the settlers from further depreda- 
tions. A company consisting of fifty experienced plainsmen, sol- 
diers and scouts was organized. 

About the 8th of September they left Fort Wallace under the 
command of Colonel Forsyth, expecting to meet a war party of 
from two hundred to two hundred and fifty Indians. They dis- 
covered a trail which led them in a few days' march to the deserted 
site of a temporary Indian village. The fact that this village had 
been composed of at least six hundred Indian lodges did not daunt 
these men, nor turn them aside from the trail. Early in the morn- 
ing of September 17 they were attacked by a large band of Indians, 
principally Cheyennes, Arapahoes and Sioux. 

In the following account Mrs. McCarter has given us a por- 
trayal of what General George A. Custer declared to be the 
greatest battle with the Indians fought on the plains. 

IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 

Stillwell^ was right. Sharp Grover knew, as well as 
the boy knew, that we were trapped, that before us now 
were the awful chances of unequal Plains warfare. A mere 
handful of us had been hurrying after a host, whose num- 
bers the broad beaten road told us was legion. There was 
no mirth in that little camp that night in mid-September, 

1. Jack Siillwell, Sharp Grover, and Howard Morton, whose 
names are mentioned in this story, were actual participants in this 
battle. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 285 

and I thought of other things besides my strange \dsion 
at the gorge. The camp was the only mark of human 
habitation in all that wide and utterly desolate land. For 
days we had noted even the absence of all game — strong 
evidence that a host had driven it away before us. Every- 
where, save about that winking camp fire, was silence. 
The sunset was gorgeous, in the barbaric sublimity of its 
seas of gold and crimson atmosphere. And then came the 
rich coloring of that purple twilight. It is no wonder they 
call it regal. Out on the Plains that night it swathed the 
landscape with a rarer hue than I have ever seen any- 
where else, although I have watched the sun go down into 
the Atlantic off the Rockport^ coast, and have seen it lost 
over the edge of the West Prairie beyond the big cotton- 
wood above the farther draw. As I watched the evening 
shadows deepen, I remembered what Morton had told me 
in the little cabin back in the Saline country, "Whoever 
fights the Indians must make his will before the battle 
begins." Now that I was face to face with the real issue, 
life became very sweet to me. How grand over war and 
hate were the thoughts of peace and love ! And yet every 
foot of this beautiful land must be bought with a price. 
No matter where the great blame lies, nor who sinned first 
in getting formal possession, the real occupation is won 
only by sacrifice. And I was confronted with my part of 
the offering. Strange thoughts come in such an hour. 



At last I rolled myself snugly in my blanket, for the 

1. Rockport. A town on the Massachusetts coast, the home of 
the Baronets, a descendant of which family, Phillip Baronet, is the 
hero of "The Price of the Prairie." It is interesting to note that 
Colonel George A. Forsyth, who commanded the scouts at the 
Arickaree, is living at the present time at Rockport, Massachusetts. 



286 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

September evenings are cold in Colorado.^ The simple 
prayers of childhood came back to me, and I repeated the 
"Now I lay me" I used to say every night at Aunt 
Candace's knee. It had a wonderful meaning to me to- 
night. . . . And I stretched out on the brown grasses 
and fell asleep. 

About midnight I wakened suddenly. A light was 
gleaming near. Some one stood beside me, and presently 
I saw Colonel Forsyth looking down into my face with 
kindly eyes. I raised myself on my elbow and watched 
him passing among the slumbering soldiers. Even now 
I can see Jack Stillwell's fair girl-face with the dim light 
on it as he slept beside me. What a picture that face 
would make if my pen were an artist's brush! At three 
in the morning I wakened again. It was very dark, but 
I knew some one was near me, and I judged instinctively 
it was Forsyth. It was sixty hours before I slept again. 

For five days every movement of ours had been watched 
by Indian scouts. Night and day they had hung on our 
borders, just out of sight, waiting their time to strike. 
Had we made a full march on that sixteenth day of Sep- 
tember, instead of halting to rest and graze our horses, 
we should have gone, as Stillwell predicted, straight into 
Hell's jaws. As it was. Hell rose up and crept stealthily 
toward us. For while our little band slept, and while 
our commander passed restlessly among us on that night, 
the redskins moved upon our borders. 

Morning was gray in the east and the little valley was 
full of shadows, when suddenly the sentinel's cry of " In- 
dians! Indians!" aroused the sleeping force. The shouts 
of our guards, the clatter of ponies' hoofs, the rattling of 

1. Colorado. The Arickaree fight occurred in Colorado, a short 
distance from the Kansas boundary line. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 287 

dry skins, the swinging of blankets, the fierce yells of 
the invading foe made a scene of tragic confusion, as a 
horde of redskins swept down upon us like a whirlwind. 
In this mad attempt to stampede our stock nothing but 
discipline saved us. A few of the mules and horses, not 
properly picketed, broke loose and galloped off before 
the attacking force; the remaining animals held as the 
Indians fled away before the sharp fire of our soldiers. 

"Well, we licked them, anyhow," I said to myself ex- 
ultantly as we obeyed the instant orders to get into the 
saddle. 

The first crimson line of morning was streaking the 
east and I lifted my face triumphantly to the new day. 
Sharp Grover stood just before me; his hand was on 
Forsyth's shoulder. 

Suddenly he uttered a low exclamation, *'0h, heav- 
ens ! General, look at the Indians." 

This was no vision of brown rock and sun-blinded eyes. 
From every direction, over the bluff, out from the tall 
grass, across the slope on the north, came Indians, hun- 
dreds on hundreds. They seemed to spring from the sod 
like Roderick Dhu's^ Highland Scots, and people every 
curve and hollow. Swift as the wind, savage as hate, 
cruel as hell, they bore down upon us from every way 
the wind blows. The thrill of that moment is in my 
blood as I write this. It was then I first understood the 
tie between the commanding officer and his men. It is 
easy to laud the file of privates on dress parade, but the 
man who directs the file in the hour of battle is the real 
power. In that instant of peril I turned to Forsyth with 
that trust that the little child gives to its father. How 

1. Roderick Dhu. A Highland Scottish chieftain, made famous 
by Sir Walter Scott's poem, "The Lady of the Lake." 



288 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

cool he was, and yet how lightning-swift in thought and 
action. 

In all the valley there was no refuge where we might 
hide, nor height on which we might defend ourselves. 
The Indians had counted on our making a dash to the 
eastward, and had left that way open for us. They had 
not reckoned well on Colonel Forsyth. He knew intui- 
tively^ that the gorge at the lower end of the valley was 
even then filled with a hidden foe, and not a man of us 
would ever have passed through it alive. To advance 
meant death, and there was no retreat possible. Out in 
the middle of the Arickaree, hardly three feet above the 
river-bed, lay a little island. In the years to be when the 
history of the West shall be fully told, it may become one 
of the nation's shrines. But now in this dim morning 
light it showed only an insignificant elevation. Its sandy 
surface was grown over with tall sage grasses and weeds. 
A few wild plums and alder bushes, a clump of low willow 
shrubs, and a small cottonwood tree completed its vege- 
tation. 

''How about that island, Grover?" I heard Forsyth ask. 

''It's all we can do," the scout answered; and the com- 
mand : " Reach the island ! hitch the horses I" rang through 
the camp. 

It takes long to tell it, this dash for the island. The 
execution of the order was like the passing of a hurricane. 
Horses, mules, men, all dashed toward the place, but in 
the rush the hospital supplies and rations were lost. The 
Indians had not counted on the island, and they raged in 
fury at their oversight. There were a thousand savage 
warriors attacking half a hundred soldiers, and they had 
gloated over the fifty scalps to be taken in the little gorge 

1. Intuitively. Instinctively; without reasoning. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 289 

to the east. The break in their plans confused them but 
momentarily, however. 

On the island we tied our horses in the bushes and 
quickly formed a circle. The soil was all soft sand. We 
cut the thin sod with out butcher knives and began throw- 
ing up a low defence, working like fiends with our hands 
and elbows and toes, scooping out the sand with our tin 
plates, making the commencement of shallow pits. We 
were stationed in couples, and I was beside Morton when 
the onslaught came. Up from the undulating south, and 
down over the north bluff swept the furious horde. On 
they came with terrific speed, their blood-curdling yells 
of hate mingling with the wild songs, and cries and taunts 
of hundreds of squaws and children that crowded the 
heights out of range of danger, watching the charge and 
urging their braves to battle. Over the slopes to the 
very banks of the creek, into the sandy bed of the stream, 
and up to the island they hurled their forces, while bullets 
crashed murderously, and arrows whizzed with deadly 
swiftness into our little sand-built defence. 

In the midst of the charge, twice above the din, I caught 
the clear notes of an artillery bugle.^ It was dim day- 
light now. Rifle-smoke and clouds of dust and gray mist 
shot through with flashes of powder, and the awful rage, 
as if all the demons of Hell were crying vengeance, are 
all in that picture burned into my memory with a white- 
hot brand. And above all these there come back to me 
the faces of that little band of resolute men biding the 
moment when the command to charge should be given. 

1. The clear notes of an artillery bugle. The Indians in this attack 
were accompanied and aided by a number of white men, some 
actuated by motives of spite and hatred, others by the desire to share 
in any booty that might result from the raids. 

—19 



290 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Such determination and such splendid heroism, not twice 
in a lifetime is it vouchsafed^ to many to behold. 

We held our fire until the enemy was almost upon us. 
At the right instant our rifles poured out a perfect billow 
of death.2 Painted bodies reeled and fell; horses sank 
down, or rushed mad with pain, upon their fallen riders; 
shrieks of agony mingled with the unearthly yells; while 
above all this, the steady roar of our guns — not a wasted 
bullet in all the line — carried death waves out from the 
island thicket. To me that first defence of ours was 
more tragic than anything in the days and nights that 
followed it. The first hour's struggle seasoned me for 
the siege. 

The fury of the Indian warriors and of the watching 
squaws is indescribable. The foe deflected to left and 
right, vainly seeking to carry their dead from the field 
with them. The effort cost many Indian lives. The long 
grass on either side of the stream was full of sharpshooters. 
The morning was bright now, and we durst not lift our 
heads above our low entrenchment. Our position was in 
the centre of a space open to attack from every arc of the 
circle. Caution counted more than courage here. Who- 
ever stood upright was offering his life to his enemy. 
Our horses suffered first. By the end of an hour every one 
of them was dead. My own mount, a fine sorrel cavalry 
horse, given to me at Fort Hays, was the last sacrifice. 
He was standing near me in the brown bushes. I could 

1. Vouchsafed. Permitted; granted. 

2. Rifles poured out a perfect billow of death. A. E. Sheldon, 
author of "History and Stories of Nebraska," states that this was 
the first experience these Indians had had with an enemy armed 
with repeating rifles. They were used to the one-shot rifle. For- 
syth's men had seven-shot repeating rifles. The Indians expected 
to meet one volley, followed, possibly, by a sharp revolver fire. 
Volley after volley of rifle fire was wholly unexpected by them. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 291 

see his superb head and chest as, with nostrils wide, and 
flashing eyes, he saw and felt the battle charge. Sub- 
consciously^ I felt that so long as he was unhurt I had a 
sure way of escape. Subsconsciously, too, I blessed the 
day that Bud Anderson taught O'mie and me to drop on 
the side of Tell Mapleson's pony and ride Hke a Plains 
Indian. But even as I looked up over my little sand 
ridge a bullet crashed into his broad chest. He plunged 
forward toward us, breaking his tether. He staggered to 
his knees, rose again with a lunge, and turning half way 
round reared his fore feet in agony and seemed about to 
fall into our pit. At that instant I heard a laugh just 
beyond the bushes, and a voice, not Indian, but English, 
cried exultingly, " There goes the last horse, anyhow." 

The wounded animal was just above our pit. Morton 
rose up with lifted carbine to drive him back, when from 
the same gun that had done for my horse came a bullet 
full into the man's face. It ploughed through his left 
eye and lodged in the bones beyond it. He uttered no 
cry, but dropped into the pit beside me. His blood, 
streaming from the wound, splashed hot on my forehead 
as he fell. I was stunned by his disaster, but he never 
faltered. Taking his handkerchief from his pocket, he 
bound it tightly about his head and set his rifle ready for 
the next charge. After that, nothing counted with me. 
I no longer shrank in dread of what might happen. All 
fear of life, or death, of pain, or Indians, or fiends from 
Hades fell away from me, and never again did my hand 
tremble, nor my heart-beat quicken in the presence of 

1. Subconsciously. With faint consciousness. He felt these 
things without giving thought to them. 



292 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

peril. By the warm blood of the brave man beside me 
I was baptized a soldier. 

The force drew back from this first attempt to take the 
island, but the fire of the hidden enemy did not cease. In 
this brief breathing spell we dug deeper into our pits, 
making our defences stronger where we lay. Disaster 
was heavy upon us. The sun beat down pitilessly on 
the hot, dry earth where we burrowed. Out in the open 
the Indians were crawling like serpents through the tall 
grasses toward our poor house of sand, hoping to fall 
upon us unseen. They had every advantage, for we did 
not dare to let our bodies be exposed above the low breast- 
works, and we could not see their advance. Nearly one- 
half of our own men were dead or wounded. Each man 
counted for so much on that battle-girt island that day. 
Our surgeon had been struck in the first round and through 
all the rest of his living hours he was in a delirium. For- 
syth himself, grievously wounded in both lower limbs, 
could only drag his body about by his arms. A rifle ball 
had grazed his scalp and fractured his skull. The pain 
from this wound was almost unbearable. But he did not 
loosen his grip on the military power delegated to him. 
From a hastily scooped-out pit where we laid him he 
directed the whole battle. 

And now we girded on our armor for the supreme or- 
deal. The unbounded wrath of the Indians at their un- 
looked-for failure in their first attack told us what to 
expect. Our own guns were ready for instant use. The 
arms of our dead and wounded comrades were placed* 
beside our own. No time was there in those awful hours 
to listen to the groans of the stricken ones nor to close 
the dying eyes. Not a soul of us in those sand-pits had 
any thought that we should ever see another sunset. All 
we could do was to put the highest price upon our lives. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 293 

It was ten o'clock in the forenoon. The firing about the 
island had almost ceased, and the silence was more omi- 
nous than the noise of bullets. Over on the bluff the 
powers were gathering. The sunlight glinted on their 
arms and lighted up their fantastic equipments of war. 
They formed in battle array. And then there came a 
sight the Plains will never see again, a sight that history 
records not once in a century. There were hundreds of 
these warriors, the flower of the fierce Cheyenne tribe, 
drawn up in military order, mounted on great horses, 
riding bareback, their rifles held aloft in their right hands, 
the left hand grasping the flowing mane, their naked 
bodies hideously adorned with paint, their long scalp- 
locks braided and trimmed with plumes and quills. They 
were the very acme^ of grandeur in a warfare as splendid 
as it was barbaric. And I, who live to write these lines, 
account myself most fortunate that I saw it all. 

They were arrayed in battle lines riding sixty abreast. 
It was a man of genius who formed that military move- 
ment that day. On they came in orderly ranks but with 
terrific speed, straight down the slope, across the level, 
and on to the island, as if by their huge weight and ter- 
rible momentum they would trample it into the very level 
dust of the earth, that the winds of heaven might scatter 
it broadcast on the Arickaree waters. Till the day of my 
death I shall hear the hoof-beats of that cavalry charge. 

Who shall paint the picture of that terrific struggle 
on that September day, or write the tale of that swirl of 
Indian warriors, a thousand strong, as they swept down 
in their barbaric fury upon the handful of Anglo-Saxon 
soldiers crouching there in the sand-pits awaiting their 

1. Acme. The highest point. 



294 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

onslaught? It was the old, old story retold that day on 
the Colorado plains by the sunlit waters of the Arickaree 
— the white man's civilization against the untamed life 
of the wilderness. And for that struggle there is only 
one outcome. 

Before the advancing foe, in front of the very center 
of the foremost line, was their leader, Roman Nose,^ chief 
warrior of the Cheyennes. He was riding a great, clean- 
limbed horse, his left hand grasping its mane. His right 
hand was raised aloft, directing his forces. If ever the 
moulds of Nature turned out physical perfection, she 
realized her ideal in that superb Cheyenne. He stood six 
feet and three inches in his moccasins. He was built like 
a giant, with a muscular symmetry that was artistically 
beautiful. About his naked body was a broad, blood-red 
silken sash, the ends of which floated in the wind. His 
war bonnet, with its two short, curved, black buffalo 
horns, above his brow, was a magnificent thing crowning 
his head and falling behind him in a sweep of heron 
plumes and eagle feathers. The Plains never saw a 
grander warrior, nor did savage tribe ever claim a more 
daring and able commander. He was by inherent right 
a ruler. In him was the culmination of the intelligent 
prowess and courage and physical supremacy of the free 
life of the broad, unfettered West. 

On they rushed, that mount of eager warriors. The 
hills behind them swarmed with squaws and children. 
Their shrieks of grief and anger and encouragement filled 
the air. They were beholding the action that down to 

1. Roman Nose. Chief Roman Nose of the Northern Cheyennes 
is said to have been the greatest chief among the Plains Indians. 
He had a commanding figure and wonderful physical strength. To 
these was added what was rare among Indians, the power and 
genius of organization. He has been classed with such great chiefs 
as King Philip, Pontiac, Tecumseh and Geronimo. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 295 

the last of the tribe would be recounted a victory to be 
chanted in all future years over the graves of their dead, 
and sung in heroic strain when their braves went forth 
to conquest. And so, with all the power of heart and 
voice, they cried out from the low hill-tops. Just at the 
brink of the stream the leader, Roman Nose, turned his 
face a moment toward the watching women. Lifting high 
his right hand he waved them a proud salute. The gesture 
was so regal, and the man himself so like a king of men, 
that I involuntarily held my breath. But the set blood- 
stained face of the wounded man beside me told what that 
kingship meant. 

As he faced the island again, Roman Nose rose up to 
his full height and shook his clenched fist toward our 
entrenchment. Then suddenly lifting his eyes toward the 
blue sky above him, he uttered a war-cry, unlike any 
other cry I have ever heard. It was so strong, so vehe- 
ment, so full of pleading, and yet so dominant in its 
certainty, as if he were invoking the gods of all the tribes 
for their aid, yet sure in his defiant soul that victory was 
his by right of might. The unearthly, blood-chilling cry 
was caught up by all his command and reechoed by the 
watchers on the hills till, away and away over the imdu- 
lating plains it rolled, dying out in weird cadences^ in 
the far-off spaces of the haze-wreathed horizon. 

Then came the dash for our island entrenchment. 
We held back our fire again, as in the first attack, until 
the foe was almost upon us. With Forsyth's order, 
''Now! Now!" our part of the drama began. I marvel 
yet at the power of that return charge. Steady, constant, 
true to the last shot, we swept back each advancing wave 

1. Cadences. Rhythmical or measured flow or movement, as 
in poetry or music. 



296 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

of warriors, maddened now to maniac^ fury. In the very- 
moment of victory defeat was breaking the forces, mow- 
ing down the strongest, and spreading confusion every- 
where. A thousand wild beasts on the hills, frenzied 
with torture, could not have raged more than those frantic 
Indian women and shrieking children watching the fray. 
With us it was the last stand. We wasted no strength 
in this grim crisis ; each turn of the hand counted. While 
fearless as though he bore a charmed life, the gallant 
savage commander dared death at our hands, heeding 
no more our rain of rifle balls than if they had been the 
drops of a summer shower. Right on he pressed, regard- 
less of his fallen braves. How grandly he towered above 
them in his great strength and superb physique, a very 
prince of prowess, the type of leader in a land where the 
battle is always to the strong. And no shot of our men 
was able to reach him until our finish seemed certain, 
and the time limit closing in. But down in the thick 
weeds, under a flimsy rampart of soft sand, crouched a 
slender fair-haired boy. Trim and pink-cheeked as a girl, 
young Stillwell was matching his cool nerve and steady 
marksmanship against the exultant dominance of a sav- 
age giant. It was David and Goliath^ played out in the 
Plains warfare of the Western continent. At the crucial 
moment the scout's bullet went home with unerring aim, 
and the one man whose power counted as a thousand 
warriors among his own people received his mortal wound. 
Backward he reeled, and dead, or dying, he was taken 
from the field. Like one of the anointed he was mourned 
by his people, for he had never known fear, and on his 
banners victory had constantly perched. 

1. Maniac. Insane. 

2. David and Goliath. I Samuel xvii. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 297 

In the confusion over the loss of their leader the In- 
dians again divided about the island and fell back out 
of range of our fire. As the tide of battle ebbed out, 
Colonel Forsyth, helpless in his sand pit, watching the 
attack, called to his guide. 

"Can they do better than that, Grover?" 

" I Ve been on the Plains since I was a boy and I never 
saw such a charge as that. I think they have done their 
level best," the scout replied. 

"All right, then, we are good for them." How cheery 
the Colonel's voice was! It thrilled my spirits with its 
courage. And we needed courage, for just then Lieu- 
tenant Beecher^ was stretching himself wearily before his 
superior officer, saying briefly: 

"I have my death-wound; good-night." And like a 
brave man who had done his best he pillowed his head 
face downward on his arms, and spoke not any more on 
earth forever. 

It has all been told in history how that day went by. 
When evening fell upon that eternity-long time, our out- 
look was full of gloom. Hardly one-half of our company 
was able to bear arms. Our horses had all been killed, 
our supplies and hospital appliances were lost. Our 
wounds were undressed; our surgeon was slowly dying; 
our commander was ^helpless, and his lieutenant dead. 
We had been all day without food or water. We were 
prisoners on this island, and every man of us had half a 
hundred jailers, each one a fiend in the high art of human 
torture. 

I learned here how brave and resourceful men can be 
in the face of disaster. One of our number had already 

1.' Lieutenant Beecher. Lieutenant Fred Beecher of the regular 
army was second in command of the expedition. The island was 
afterward named Beecher Island. 



298 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

begun to dig a shallow well. It was a muddy drink, but, 
God be praised, it was water! Our supper was a steak 
cut from a slaughtered horse, but we did not complain. 
We gathered round our wounded commander and did 
what we could for each other, and no man thought of 
himself first. Our dead were laid in shallow graves, with- 
out a prayer. There was no time here for the ceremonies 
of peace; and some of the men, before they went out 
into the Unknown that night, sent their last messages to 
their friends, if we should ever be able to reach home 
again. 

At nightfall came a gentle shower. We held out our 
hands to it, and bathed our fevered faces. It was very 
dark and we must make the most of every hour. The 
Indians do not fight by night, but the morrow might bring 
its tale of battles. So we digged, and shaped our strong- 
hold, and told over our resources, and planned our de- 
fences, and all the time hunger and suffering and sorrow 
and peril stalked about with us. All night the Indians 
gathered up their dead, and all night they chanted their 
weird, blood-chiUing death-songs, while the lamentations 
of the squaws through that dreadful night filled all the 
long hours with hideous mourning unlike any other 
earthly discord. But the darkness folded us in, and the 
blessed rain fell softly on all alike, on skillful guide, and 
busy soldier, on the wounded lying helpless in their beds 
of sand, on the newly made graves of those for whom life's 
fitful fever was ended. And above all, the loving Father 
whose arm is never shortened that He can not save, gave 
His angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways. 

We had only once chance for deliverance ; we must get 
the tidings of our dreadful plight to Fort Wallace, a hun- 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 299 

dred miles away. Jack Still well and another brave scout ^ 
were chosen for the dangeroiis task. At midnight they 
left us, moving cautiously away into the black blank 
space toward the southwest, and making a wide detour 
from their real line of direction. The Indians were on 
the alert, and a man must walk as noiselessly as a panther 
to slip between their guards. 

The scouts wore blankets to resemble the Indians more 
closely in the shadows of the night. They made moc- 
casins out of boot tops, that their footprints might tell 
no story. In sandy places they even walked backward 
that they should leave no tell-tale trail out of the valley. 

Dawn found them only three miles away from their 
starting place. A hollow bank overhung with long, dry 
grasses, and fronted with rank sunflowers, gave them a 
place of concealment through the daylight hours. Again 
on the second night they hurried cautiously forward. 
The second morning they were near an Indian village. 
Their only retreat was in the tall growth of a low, marshy 
place. Here they crouched through another long day. 
The unsuspecting squaws, hunting fuel, tramped the 
grasses dangerously near to them, but a merciful Provi- 
dence guarded their hiding-place. 

On the third night they pushed forward more boldly, 
hoping that the next day they need not waste the precious 
hours in concealment. In the early morning they saw 
coming down over the prairie the first guard of a Chey- 
enne village moving southward across their path. The 
Plains were flat and covertless.^ No tall grass, nor friendly 
bank, nor bush, nor hollow of ground was there to cover 
them from their enemies. But out before them lay the 
rotting carcass of an old buffalo. Its hide still hung 

1. Another brave scout. Pete TrudeU. 

2. Covertless, Without hiding places. 



300 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

about its bones. And inside the narrow shelter of this 
carcass the two concealed themselves while a whole vil- 
lage passed near them trailing off toward the south. 

Insufficient food, lack of sleep, and poisonous water 
from the buffalo wallows brought nausea and weakness 
to the faithful men making their way across the hostile 
land to bring help to us in our dire extremity. It is all 
recorded in history how these two men fared in that haz- 
ardous undertaking. No hundred miles of sandy plain 
were ever more fraught with peril; and yet these two 
pressed on with that fearless and indomitable^ courage 
that has characterized the Saxon people on every field of 
conquest. 

Meanwhile day crept over the eastern horizon, and the 
cold chill of the shadows gave place to the burning glare 
of the September sun. Hot and withering it beat down 
upon us and upon the unburied dead that lay all about us. 
The braves that had fallen in the strife strewed the 
island's edges. Their blood lay dark on the sandy shoals 
of the stream and stained to duller brown the trampled 
grasses. Daylight brought the renewal of the treacherous 
sharpshooting. The enemy closed in about us and from 
their points of vantage their deadly arrows and bullets 
were hurled upon our low wall of defence. And so the 
unequal struggle continued. Ours was henceforth an 
ambush fight. The redskins did not attack us in open 
charge again, and we durst not go out to meet them. 
And so the thing became a game of endurance with us, 
a slow wearing away of ammunition and food, a growing 
fever from weakness and loss of blood, a festering of 
wounds, the ebbing out of strength and hope ; while putrid^ 

1. Indomitable. Not conquerable. 

2. Putrid. Tainted; decaying. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 301 

mule meat and muddy water, the sickening stench from 
naked bloated bodies under the blazing heat of day, the 
long, long hours of watching for deliverance that came 
not, and the certainty of the fate awaiting us at last if 
rescue failed us — these things marked the hours and made 
them all alike. As to the Indians, the passing of Roman 
Nose had broken their fighting spirit; and now it was a 
mere matter of letting us run to the end of our tether. 

On the third night two more scouts left us. It seemed 
an eternity since Stillwell and his comrade had started 
from the camp. We felt sure that they must have fallen 
by the way, and the second attempt was doubly hazard- 
ous. The two who volunteered were quiet men. They 
knew what the task implied, and they bent to it like men 
who can pay on demand the price of sacrifice. Their 
names were Donovan and Pliley,^ recorded in the military 
roster as private scouts, but the titles they bear in the 
memory of every man who sat in that grim council on 
that night has a grander sound than the written 
records declare. 

''Boys," Forsyth said, lifting himself on his elbow 
where he lay in his sand bed, "this is the last chance. If 
you can get to the fort and send us help we can hold out 
a while. But it must come quickly. You know what it 
means for you to try, and for us, if you succeed." 

The two men nodded assent, then girding on their 
equipments, they gave us their last messages to be re- 
peated if deliverance ever came to us and they were never 
heard of again. We were getting accustomed to this now, 
for Death stalked beside us every hour. They said a 
brief good-bye and slipped out from us into the dangerous 
dark on their chosen task. Then the chill of the night, 

1. Donovan andPliley. Jack Donovan and Captain A. J. Pliley. 
Captain Pliley is still living at Kansas City, Kansas. 



302 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

with its uncertainty and gloom, with its ominous silences 
broken only by the howl of the gray wolves, who closed 
in about us and set up their hunger wails beyond the 
reach of our bullets ; and the heat of the day with its peril 
of arrow and rifle-ball filled the long hours. Hunger was 
a terror now. Our meat was gone save a few decayed 
portions which we could barely swallow after we had 
sprinkled them over with gunpowder. For the stomach 
refused them even in starvation. Dreams of banquets 
tortured our short, troubled sleep, and the waking was a 
horror. A luckless little coyote wandered one day too 
near our fold. We ate his flesh and boiled his bones for 
soup. And one day a daring soldier slipped out from our 
sand pit in search of food — anything — to eat in place of 
that rotting horseflesh. In the bushes at the end of the 
island he found a few wild plums. Oh, food for the gods 
was that portion of stewed plums carefully doled out to 
each of us. 

Six days went by. I do not know on which one the 
Sabbath fell, for God has no holy day in the Plains war- 
fare. Six days, and no aid had come from Fort Wallace. 
That our scouts had failed, and our fate was decreed, was 
now the settled conclusion in every mind. 

On the evening of this sixth day our leader called us 
about him. How gray and drawn his face looked in the 
shadowy gray light, but his eyes were clear and his voice 
steady. 

"Boys, we Ve got to the end of our rope, now. Over 
there," pointing to the low hills, "the Indian wolves are 
waiting for us. It 's the hazard of war ; that 's all. But 
we needn't all be sacrificed. You, who aren't wounded, 
can't help us who are. You have nothing here to make 
our suffering less. To stay here means — ^you all know 
what. Now the men who can go must leave us to what 's 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 303 

coming. I feel sure now that you can get through to- 
gether somehow, for the tribes are scattering. It is only 
the remnant left over there to bum us out at last. There 
is no reason why you should stay here and die. Make 
your dash for escape together to-night, and save your 
lives if you can. And" — his voice was brave and full of 
cheer — " I believe you can." 

Then a silence fell. There were two dozen of us gaunt, 
hungry men, haggard from lack of sleep and the fearful 
tax on mind and body that tested human endurance to 
the limit — two dozen, to whom escape was not impossi- 
ble now, though every foot of the way was dangerous. 
Life is sweet, and hope is imperishable. We looked into 
one another's face grimly, for the crisis of a lifetime was 
upon us. Beside me lay Morton. The handkerchief he 
had bound about his head in the first hour of battle had 
not once been removed. There was no other handker- 
chief to take its place. 

"Go, Baronet," he said to me. "Tell your father, if 
you see him again, that I remembered Whately and how 
he went down at Chattanooga." 

His voice was low and firm and yet he knew what was 
awaiting him. Oh! men walked on red-hot ploughshares 
in the days of the winning of the West. 

Sharp Grover was sitting beside Forsyth. In the silence 
of the council the guide turned his eyes toward each of 
us. Then, clenching his gaunt, knotted hands with a 
grip of steel, he said in a low, measured voice : 

"It's no use asking us. General. We have fought to- 
gether, and, by Heaven, we '11 die together." 

In the great crises of life the only joy is the joy of self- 
sacrifice. Every man of us breathed freer, and we were 
happier now than we had been at any time since the con- 



304 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

iiict began. And so another twenty-four hours, and still 
another twenty-four went by. 

The sun came up and the sun went down, 
And day and night were the same as one. 

And any evil chance seemed better than this slow drag- 
.ging out of misery-laden time. 

"Nature meant me to defend the weak and helpless. 
The West needs me," I had said to my father. And now I 
had given it my best. A slow fever was creeping upon 
me, and weariness of body was greater than pain and 
hunger. Death would be a welcome thing now that hope 
seemed dead. I thought of O'mie, bound hand and foot 
in the Hermit's Cave, and like him, I wished that I might 
go quickly if I must go. For back of my stolid mental 
state was a frenzied desire to outwit Jean Pahusca, who 
was biding his time, and keeping a surer watch on our 
poor battle-wrecked, starving force than any other In- 
dian in the horde that kept us imprisoned. 

The sunrise of the twenty-fifth of September was a 
dream of beauty on the Colorado Plains. I sat with my 
iace to the eastward and saw the whole pageantry^ of 
morning sweep up in a splendor of color through stretches 
of far limitless distances. Oh! it was gorgeous, with 
a glory fresh from the hand of the Infinite God, whose is 
the earth and the seas. Mechanically I thought of the 
sunrise beyond the Neosho Valley, but nothing there could 
be half so magnificent as this. And as I looked, the 
thought grew firmer that this sublimity had been poured 
•out for me for the last time, and I gazed at the face of 
the morning as we look at the face awaiting the coffin lid. 

And even as the thought clinched itself upon me came 
the sentinel's cry of *' Indians! Indians!" 

1. Pageantry, Elaborate or brilliant spectacular display. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 305 

We grasped our weapons at the shrill warning. It was 
the death-grip now. We knew as surely as we stood 
there that we could not resist this last attack. The red- 
skins must have saved themselves for this final blow, 
when resistance on our part was a feeble mockery. The 
hills to the northward were black with the approaching 
force, but we were determined to make our last stand 
heroically, and to sell our lives as dearly as possible. As 
with a grim last measure of courage we waited, Sharp 
Grover, who stood motionless, alert, with arms ready, 
suddenly threw his rifle high in air, and with a shout that 
rose to heaven, he cried in an ecstasy of joy: 

"By the God above us, it's an ambulance!" 

To us for whom the frenzied shrieks of the squaws, the 
fiendish yells of the savage warriors, and the weird, un- 
earthly wailing for the dead were the only cries that had 
resounded above the Plains these many days, this shout 
from Grover was like the music of heaven. A darkness 
came before me, and my strength seemed momentarily 
to go from me. It was but a moment, and then I opened 
my eyes to the sublimest sight it is given to the Anglo- 
American to look upon. 

Down from the low bluffs there poured a broad surge of 
cavalry, in perfect order, riding like the wind, the swift, 
steady hoof-beats of their horses marking a rhythmic 
measure that trembled along the ground in musical vibra- 
tion, while overhead — oh, the grandeur of God's gracious 
dawn fell never on a thing more beautiful — swept out by 
the free winds of heaven to its full length, and gleaming 
in the sunlight. Old Glory rose and fell in rippling waves 
of splendor. 

On they came, the approaching force, in a mad rush to 
reach us. And we who had waited fox^ the superb charge 
of Roman Nose and his savage warriors, as we wait for 

—20 



306 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

death, saw now this coming in of life, and the regiment 
of the unconquerable people. 

We threw restraint to the winds and shouted and 
danced and hugged each other, while we laughed and 
cried in a very transport of joy. 

It was Colonel Carpenter and his colored cavalry who 
had made a dash across the country rushing to our rescue. 
Beside the Colonel at their head, rode Donovan the scout, 
whom we had accounted as dead. It was his unerring 
eye that had guided this command, never varying from 
the straight line toward our danger-girt entrenchment 
on the Arickaree. 

Before Carpenter's approaching cavalry the Indians 
fled for their lives, and they who a few hours hence would 
have been swinging bloody tomahawks above our heads 
were now scurrying to their hiding-places far away. 

Never tenderer hands cared for the wounded, and never 
were bath and bandage and food and drink more wel- 
come. Our command was shifted to a clean spot where 
no stench of putrid flesh could reach us. Rest and care, 
such as a camp on the Plains can offer, was ours luxuri- 
ously; and hardtack and coffee, food for the angels, we 
had that day, to our intense satisfaction. Life was ours 
once more, and hope, and home, and civilization. Oh, 
could it be true, we asked ourselves, so long had we 
stood face to face with Death. 

The import of this struggle on the Arickaree was far 
greater than we dreamed of then. We had gone out to 
meet a few foemen. What we really had to battle with 
was the fighting strength of the northern Cheyenne and 
Sioux tribes. Long afterwards it came to us what this 
victory meant. The broad trail we had eagerly followed 
up the Arickaree fork of the Republican River had been 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 307 

made by bands on bands of Plains Indians mobilizing^ 
only a little to the westward, gathering for a deadly pur- 
pose. At the full of the moon the whole fighting force, 
two thousand strong, was to make a terrible raid, spread- 
ing out on either side of the Repubhcan River, reaching 
southward as far as the Saline Valley and northward to 
the Platte, and pushing eastward till the older settlements 
turned them back. They were determined to leave noth- 
ing behind them but death and desolation. Their numbers 
and leadership, with the defenceless condition of the 
Plains settlers, give broad suggestion of what that raid 
would have done for Kansas. Our victory on the Arickaree 
broke up that combination of Indian forces, for all future 
time. It was for such an unknown purpose, and against 
such unguessed odds, that fifty of us, led by the God of all 
battle lines, had gone out to fight. We had met and 
vanquished a foe two hundred times our number, aye, 
crippled its power for all future years. We were lifting 
the fetters from the frontier ; we were planting the stand- 
ards westward, westward. In the history of the Plains 
warfare this fight on the Arickaree, though not the last 
stroke, was one of the decisive struggles in breaking the 
savage sovereignty, a sovereignty whose wilderness de- 
mesne^ to-day is a land of fruit and meadow and waving 
grain, of peaceful homes and wealth and honor. 

It was impossible for our wounded comrades to begin 
the journey to Fort Wallace on that day. When evening 
came, the camp settled down to quiet and security: the 
horses fed at their rope tethers, the fires smouldered away 
to gray ashes, the sun swung down behind the horizon 

1. Mobilizing. Making an army ready to take the field in actual 
service. 

2. Demesne (de-man'). Region ruled over or controlled by a 
sovereign or ruler. 



308 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

bar, the gold and scarlet of evening changed to deeper 
hues, and the long, purple twilight was on the silent Col- 
orado Plains. Over by the Arickaree the cavalry men 
lounged lazily in groups. As the shades of evening gath- 
ered, the soldiers began to sing. Softly at first, but richer, 
fuller, sweeter their voices rose and fell with that cadence 
and melody only the negro voice can compass. And their 
song, pulsing out across the undulating valley wrapped 
in the twilight peace, made a harmony so wonderfully 
tender that we who had dared danger for days unflinch- 
ingly now turned our faces to the shadows to hide our 
tears. 

We are tenting to-night on the old camp ground. 

Give us a song to cheer 
Our weary hearts, a song of home 

And friends we love so dear. 
Many are the hearts that are weary to-night, 

Wishing for this war to cease. 
Many are the hearts looking for the right 
To see the dawn of peace. 

So the cavalry men sang, and we listened to their singing 
with hearts stirred to their depths. And then with prayers 
of thankfulness for our deliverance, we went to sleep. 
And over on the little island, under the shallow sands, 
the men who had fallen beside us lay with patient, folded 
hands waiting beside the Arickaree waters till the last 
reveille^ shall sound for them and they enter the kingdom 
of Eternal Peace. —Margaret Hill McCarter. 

From "The Price of the Prairie," by Margaret Hill McCarter. 
Used by permission of the publishers, A. C. McClurg and Company. 

1. Reveille (rev-e-le'). A signal by drum or bugle notifying 
soldiers that it is time to rise. 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARICKAREE 309 

1. Words for definition and study: habitation, utterly, gorgeous, 
barbaric, sublimity, regal, instinctively, horde, stampede, picketed, 
"licked," Highland Scots, privates, dress parade, file, intuitively, 
gorge, shrines, rations, momentarily, fiends, undulating, taunts, 
vouchsafed, sharp-shooters, subconsciously, disaster, pitilessly, 
battle-girt, grazed, ordeal, equipments, scalp-locks, genius, swirl, 
symmetry, inherent, kingship, dominant, defiant, cadences, drama, 
crisis, physique, flimsy, crucial, appliances, moccasins, covertless, 
buffalo wallows, extremity, festering, putrid, roster, hazard, rem- 
nant, gaunt, ecstasy, ambulance, Anglo-American, rhythmic, 
grandeur, unerring, hardtack, import, vanquished, sovereignty, 
demesne, tethers, reveille. 

2. When and where did the battle described in this selection 
occur? 

3. What part did the Cheyenne Indians play in the early history 
of Kansas? 

4. Describe the life and duties of a plains scout. 

, 5. Explain, "every foot of this beautiful land must be bought 
with a price." 

6. Why did Colonel Forsyth not take advantage of the opening 
to the east, which the Indians had left? 

7. What advantages for defense had the island in the Arickaree? 

8. Describe the first charge the Indians made on the island. 
What enabled the scouts to repulse them? 

9. What took place between the first and second charges? 

10. Explain the effect of the wounding of Morton on the man 
who is relating the story. 

11. What effect did the failure of the first charge have on the 
Indians? 

12. Describe the preparation of the Indians for the second charge. 

13. Describe their leader, Roman Nose. 

14. What part had the squaws and children in the combat? 

15. Explain, "It was David and Goliath played out in the Plains 
warfare of the Western continent." 

16. What was the cause of the failure of the second charge? 

17. What was the condition of Colonel Forsyth's command 
after the second charge? 

18. What did the men do on the night after the charge? What 
did the Indians do? 

19. Where did the scouts go to secure assistance? How far 
away was this? 

20. What were some of the difficulties encountered? 

21. What incidents in the story reveal Colonel Forsyth's solici- 
tude for his soldiers? 

22. Describe the coming of the relief expedition. 

23. How long had the men been on the island? How had they 
lived during that time? 

24. Explain the importance of this battle with the Indians. 



310 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

EACH IN HIS OWN TONGUE 

William Herbert Carruth was born on a farm near Osa- 
watomie, Kansas, April 5, 1859. His father was a Presbyterian 
minister. Young Carruth inherited a love of books from his father, 
and a courageous, independent, energetic spirit from his mother. 
He worked his way through school and college. He was graduated 
from the University of Kansas in 1880, and was elected assistant in 
modern languages in his alma mater before his graduation. In 1882 
he was made professor of modern languages. In 1886 he went to 
Europe and spent a year in Berlin and Munich universities. He 
took his master's degree at Harvard in 1889, and his doctor's 
degree from the same university in 1893. 

Doctor Carruth has translated and edited a number of German text- 
books that are in use in many of the high schools and colleges of the 
country. He continued in his position as head of the department of 
German in the University of Kansas until the end of the school year 
1912-*13, when he resigned to accept a similar position in Leland 
Stanford University, in California, which position he now holds. 

During his busy career as a teacher. Doctor Carruth has found 
time for literary work. Of the numerous poems he has written, 
"Each In His Own Tongue" is perhaps the most widely known, 
though "Dreamers of Dreams" and "God Bless You" are quite 
as well liked by many people. 

EACH IN HIS OWN TONGUE. 

A fire-mist^ and a planet,^ 

A crystal and a cell/ 
A jelly-fish^ and a saurian/ 

And caves where the cave-men^ dwell ; 

1. Fire-mist. The gaseous state in which the earth formerly 
existed. 

2. A planet. The earth. 

3. A crystal and a cell. The crystal and the cell are the simplest 
forms in which matter exists. 

4. Jelly-fish. One of the lowest forms of animal life. 

5. Saurian. A huge lizard-like reptile of the earlier ages of the 
earth's development. 

6. Cave-men. In early times man lived in caves in a manner 
little different from that of the animals. 



EACH IN HIS OWN TONGUE 311 

Then a sense of law and beauty 

And a face turned from the clod, 
Some call it Evolution/ 

And others call it God. 

A haze on the far horizon, 

The infinite, tender sky. 
The ripe, rich tint of the cornfields. 

And the wild geese sailing high; 
And all over upland and lowland 

The charm of the golden-rod, 
Some of us call it Autumn, 

And others call it God. 

Like tides on a crescent^ sea-beach, 

When the moon is new and thin, 
Into our hearts high yearnings 

Come welling and surging in: 
Come from the mystic ocean. 

Whose rim no foot has trod, 
Some of us call it Longing, 

And others call it God. 

A picket frozen on duty, 

A mother starved for her brood, 
Socrates^ drinking the hemlock, 

And Jesus on the rood ; ^ 

1. Evolution. The theory which teaches that the higher forms 
of life and the better conditions under which we live are the result 
of gradual development from the lower forms of life and poorer 
conditions of living. 

2. Crescent. Shaped like the new moon. 

3. Socrates. An ancient Greek philosopher who was con- 
demned to death on account of his religious teachings. When the 
time came for the execution of the sentence he voluntarily drank a 
cup of poisonous hemlock, after which he conversed calmly with 
his friends until he died. 

4. Rood. The crucifix; here, the cross on which Jesus was crucified. 



312 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

And millions who, humble and nameless, 

The straight, hard pathway plod, — 

Some call it Consecration, ^ 

And others call it God. 

— William H. Carruth. 

From "Each In His Own Tongue and Other Poems," G. P, 
Putnam's Sons, New York, publishers. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: planet, cell, saurian, evolu- 
tion, horizon, infinite, tint, crescent, sea-beach, yearnings, welling, 
mystic, picket, Socrates, hemlock, rood, humble, consecration. 

2. Which was first, the fire-mist or the planet? 

3. What conditions of life are described in the first stanza? 

4. Describe the Autumn in the language of the poet. 

5. To what does the poet liken the feeling of longing? 

6. Explain, "the mystic ocean, whose rim no foot has trod." 

7. Give good examples of consecration other than those that 
the poet mentions. 

THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 

William Allen White was born at Emporia, Kansas, in 1868. 
Until he was ready for college practically all of his life was spent 
in El Dorado, Kansas. Here he attended the common schools and 
high school. He spent one year at the College of Emporia, and then 
entered the University of Kansas, where he remained until he was 
graduated. After graduation he returned to his home town and 
went to work on the El Dorado Republican. His writings in this 
paper at once attracted attention, and he was soon called to a 
position on the Kansas City Journal, which he accepted. A little 
later he accepted a place on the Kansas City Star. Most of the 
stories which later appeared in his first book, "The Real Issue," 
came out in the Sunday issues of the Kansas City Star. The first 
of these stories to be published was "The Home-coming of Colonel 
Hucks." 

The "Boyville Stories" were also written while Mr. White was 
connected with the Kansas City Star, but were not published in 

1. Consecration. Steadfast devotion. 



THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 313 

book form until after he had purchased the Emporia Gazette and 
moved to Emporia. Besides "The Real Issue" and "Boyville 
Stories," the best known of Mr. White's books are "Stratagems 
and Spoils" and "A Certain Rich Man." Mr. White is perhaps as 
well known through his contributions to magazines as through his 
stories and novels. His character sketches of men prominent in 
national affairs have been especially well received and widely read. 
"The Home-coming of Colonel Hucks" is the story of a young man 
and his wife who came to Kansas in pioneer days, endured the hard- 
ships and privations incident to frontier life, reared a family, and 
accumulated enough property to provide for a comfortable old age. 
During all these years they cherished fondest memories of their old 
home in Ohio, and looked forward to the time when they could 
visit that old home. The experiences and impressions of this visit, 
and the new appreciation of their Kansas home which it awakened, 
constitute a most interesting story. 

THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 

A GENERATION ago, a wagon covered with white canvas 
turned to the right on the Cahfornia road/ and took a 
northerly course toward a prairie stream that nestled 
just under a long, low bluff. When the white pilgrim, ^ 
jolting over the rough, unbroken ground, through the tall 
"blue stem" grass,^ reached a broad bend in the stream, it 
stopped. A man and a woman emerged from under the 
canvas, and stood for a moment facing the wild, green 
meadow, and the distant hills. The man was young, lithe, 
and graceful, but despite his boyish figure the woman felt 
his unconscious strength, as he put his arm about her 
waist. She was aglow with health; her fine, strong, in- 
telligent eyes burned with hope, and her firm jaw was good 
to behold. They stood gazing at the virgin field a moment 

1. The California road. One of the early trails that crossed 
Kansas. It is more commonly known as the Oregon Trail. 

2. White pilgrim. The canvas-covered wagon in which the 
settlers were traveling. 

3. ''Blue stem'' grass. A tall jointed prairie grass, common in 
eastern Kansas in early days. 



314 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

in silence. There were tears in the woman's eyes, as she 
looked up after the kiss and said : 

''And this is the end of our wedding journey; and — 
and — the honey-moon — the only one we can ever have in 
all the world — is over." 

The horses, moving uneasily in their sweaty harness, 
cut short the man's reply. When he returned, his wife 
was getting the cooking utensils from under the wagon, 
and life — stem, troublous — had begun for them. 

It was thus that young Colonel William Hucks brought 
his wife to Kansas. 

They were young, strong, hearty people, and they con- 
quered the wilderness. A home sprang up in the elbow 
of the stream. In the fall, long rows of corn shocks 
trailed what had been the meadow. In the summer the 
field stood horse-high with com. From the bluff, as the 
years flew by, the spectator might see the checker-board of 
the farm,i clean cut, well kept, smiling in the sun. Little 
children frolicked in the king row, and hurried to school 
down the green lines of the lanes where the hedges grow. 
Once, a slow procession, headed by a spring wagon with a 
little black box in it, might have been seen filing between 
the rows of the half -grown poplar trees and out across the 
brown, stubble-covered prairie, to the desolate hill and 
the graveyard. Now, neighbors from miles around may 
be heard coming in rattling wagons across vale and plain, 
laden with tin presents ; after which the little home is seen 
ablaze with lights, while the fiddle vies with the mirth 
of the rollicking party, dancing with the wanton echoes on 
the bluff across the stream. 

There were years when the light in the kitchen burned 
far into the night, when two heads bent over the table, 

1. The checker-board of the farm. The farm was laid out in 
regularly shaped fields, giving it the appearance of a checker-board. 



THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 315 

figuring to make ends meet. In these years the girlish 
figure became bent, and the hght faded in the woman's 
eyes, while the lithe figure of the man was gnarled by the 
rigors of the struggle. There were days — ^not years, thank 
God— when lips forgot their tenderness; and, as fate 
tugged fiercely at the curbed bit, there were times, when 
souls rebelled, and cried out in bitterness and despair, 
at the roughness of the path. 

In this wise went Colonel William Hucks and his wife 
through youth into maturity,^ and in this wise they faced 
towards the sunset. 

He was tall, with a stoop; grizzled, brawny, perhaps 
uncouth in mien.^ She was stout, unshapely, rugged; 
yet her face was kind and motherly. There was a boyish 
twinkle left in her husband's eyes, and a quaint, quizzing, 
one-sided smile often stumbled across his care-furrowed 
countenance. As the years passed, Mrs. Hucks noticed 
that her husband's foot fell heavily when he walked by her 
side, and the pang she felt when she first observed his 
plodding step was too deep for tears. It was in these 
days, that the minds of the Huckses unconsciously re- 
verted^ to old times. It became their wont,'^ in these latter 
days, to sit in the silent house, whence the children had 
gone out to try issue with the world, and, of evenings, to 
talk of the old faces and of the old places, in the home of 
their youth. Theirs had been a pinched and busy life. 
They had never returned to visit their old Ohio home. 
The Colonel's father and mother were gone. His wife's 
relatives were not there. Yet each felt the longing to go 
back. For years they had talked of the charms of the 

1. Maturity. State of full growth or development; middle age. 

2. Uncouth in mien. Awkward in manner. 

3. Reverted. Turned back. 

4. Wont. Custom. 



316 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

home of their childhood. Their children had been brought 
up to believe that the place was little less than heaven. 
The Kansas grass seemed short, and barren of beauty to 
them, beside the picture of the luxury of Ohio's fields. 
For them the Kansas streams did not ripple and dimple so 
merrily in the sun as the Ohio brooks, that romped through 
dewy pastures, in their memories. The bleak Kansas 
plain, in winter and in fall, seemed to the Colonel and his 
wife to be ugly and gaunt, when they remembered the 
brow of the hill under which their first kiss was shaded 
from the moon, while the world grew dim under a sleigh 
that bounded over the turnpike. ^ The old people did not 
give voice to their musings. But in the woman's heart 
there gnawed a yearning for the beauty of the old scenes. 
It was almost a physical hunger. 

After their last child, a girl, had married, and had gone 
down the lane toward the lights of the village, Mrs. Hucks 
began to watch with a greedy eye the dollars mount 
toward a substantial bank-account. She hoped that she 
and her husband might afford a holiday. 

Last year. Providence blessed the Huckses with plenty. 
It was the woman, who revived the friendship of youth in 
her husband's cousin, who lived in the old township in 
Ohio. It was Mrs. Hucks, who secured from that cousin 
an invitation to spend a few weeks in the Ohio homestead. 
It was Mrs. Hucks, again, who made her husband happy 
by putting him into a tailor's suit — the first he had bought 
since his wedding — for the great occasion. Colonel Hucks 
needed no persuasion to take the trip. Indeed, it was his 
wife's economy which had kept him from being a spend- 
thrift, and from borrowing money with which to go, on a 
dozen different occasions. 

1. Turnpike. A road, usually surfaced or macadamized, on 
which there were toll gates where travelers were stopped and 
eharged a fee for using the road. 



THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 317 

The day which Colonel and Mrs. William Hucks set 
apart for starting upon their journey was one of those 
perfect Kansas days in early October. The rain had 
washed the summer's dust from the air, clearing it, and 
stenciling^ the lights and shades very sharply. The woods 
along the little stream, which flowed through the farm, 
had not been greener at any time during the season. The 
second crop of grass on the hillside almost sheened- in 
vividness. The yellow of the stubble in the grain fields 
was all but a glittering golden. The sky was a deep, 
glorious blue, and the big, downy clouds which lumbered 
lazily here and there in the depths of it, appeared near 
and palpable.^ 

As Mrs. Hucks ''did up'' the breakfast dishes for the 
last time before leaving for the town to take the cars, she 
began to feel that the old house would be lonesome with- 
out her. The silence that was about to come, seemed to 
her to be seeping in, and it made her feel creepy. In her 
fancy she petted the furniture as she *'set it to rights," 
saying mentally, that it would be a long time before the 
house would have her care again. To Mrs. Hucks every 
bit of furniture brought up its separate recollection, and 
there was a hatchet-scarred chair in the kitchen which 
had come with her in the wagon from Ohio. Mrs. Hucks 
felt that she could not leave that chair. All the while she 
was singing softly, as she went about her simple tasks. 
Her husband was puttering around the barnyard, with the 
dog under his feet. He was repeating for the twentieth 
time, the instructions to a neighbor about the care of the 
stock, when it occurred to him to go into the house and 
dress. After this was accomplished, the old couple paused 

1. Stenciling. Tracing or marking. 

2. Sheened. Glistened. 

3. Palpable. Sensible to the touch. 



318 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

outside the front door while Colonel Hucks fumbled with 
the key. "Think of it, Father," said Mrs. Hucks as she 
turned to descend from the porch. "Thirty years ago — 
and you and I have been fighting so hard out here — since 
you let me out of your arms to look after the horses. 
Think of what has come — and — and — gone, Father, and 
here we are alone, after it all." 

"Now, Mother, I — " but the woman broke in again 
with: 

"Do you mind how I looked that day? 0, William, 
you were so fine, and so handsome then ! What 's become 
of my boy — my young — sweet — strong — glorious boy?" 

Mrs. Hucks' eyes were wet, and her voice broke at the 
end of the sentence. 

"Mother," said the Colonel, as he went around the 
corner of the house, "just wait a minute till I see if this 
kitchen door is fastened." 

When he came back, he screwed up the corner of his 
mouth into a droll, one-sided smile and said, with a twinkle 
in his eyes, to the woman emerging from her handkerchief : 

"Mother, for a woman of your age, I should say you 
had a mighty close call to being kissed, just then. That 
kitchen door was all that saved you." 

"Now, Pa, don't be silly," was all that Mrs. Hucks 
had the courage to attempt, as she climbed into the 
buggy. 

Colonel Hucks and his wife went down the road, each 
loath to go and leave the home-place without their care. 
Their ragged, uneven flow of talk was filled with more 
anxiety about the place which they were leaving, than it 
was with the joys anticipated at their journey's end. 
The glories of Ohio, and the wonderful green of its hills, 
and the cool of its meadows, veined with purling brooks, ^ 

1. Purling brooks. Murmuring brooks. 



THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 319 

was a picture that seemed to fade in the mental vision 
of this old pair, when they turned the corner that hid their 
Kansas home from view. Mrs. Hucks kept reverting in 
her mind to her recollection of the bedroom, which she 
had left in disorder. The parlor and the kitchen formed a 
mental picture in the housewife's fancy, which did not 
leave place for speculations about the glories into which 
she was about to come. In the cars. Colonel Hucks found 
himself leaning across the aisle, bragging mildly about 
Kansas, for the benefit of a traveling man from Cincin- 
nati. When the Colonel and his wife spread their supper 
on their knees in the Kansas City Union Depot, the 
recollection that it was the little buff Cochin pullet which 
they were eating made Mrs. Hucks very homesick. The 
Colonel, on being reminded of this, was meditative also. 
They arrived at their destination in the night. Mrs. 
Hucks and the women of the homestead refreshed old 
acquaintance in the bedroom and in the kitchen, while 
the Colonel and the men sat stiffly in the parlor, and called 
the roll of ^ the dead and absent. In the morning, while he 
was waiting for his breakfast. Colonel Hucks went for a 
prowl down in the cow lot. It seemed to him that the 
creek which ran through the lot was dry and ugly. He 
found a stone upon which as a boy he had stood and fished. 
He remembered it as a huge boulder, and he had told his 
children wonderful tales about its great size. It seemed 
to him that it had worn away one half in thirty years. The 
moss on the river bank was faded and old, and the beauty 
for which he had looked was marred by a thousand 
irregularities, which he did not recall in the picture of 
the place that he had carried in his memory since he 
left it. 

1. Called the roll of. Talked about. 



320 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Colonel Hucks trudged up the bank from the stream 
with his hands clasped behind him, whistling "0, Lord, 
Remember me," and trying to reconcile the things he had 
seen with those he had expected to find. At breakfast 
he said nothing of his puzzle, but as Mrs. Hucks and the 
Colonel sat in the parlor alone, during the morning, while 
their cousins were arranging to take the Kansas people 
over the neighborhood in the buggy, Mrs. Hucks said : 

" Father, I We been lookin' out the window, and I see 
they Ve had such a dreadful drouth here. See that grass 
there, it 's as short and dry— and the ground looks bum- 
eder and crackeder than it does in Kansas.'' 

"Uhm, yes," replied the Colonel. "I had noticed that 
myself. Yet crops seem a pretty fair yield this year." 

As the buggy in which the two families were riding 
rumbled over the bridge, the Colonel, who was sitting in 
the front seat, turned to the woman in the back seat and 
said: 

"Lookie there, Mother, they've got a new mill — 
smaller 'n the old mill, too." 

To which his cousin responded, " Bill Hucks, what 's got 
into you, anyway! That's the same old mill, where me 
and you used to steal pigeons." 

The Colonel looked closer, and drawled out, ''Well, 
I be doggoned! What makes it look so small? Ain't it 
smaller. Mother?" he asked, as they crossed the mill- 
race, ^ that seemed to the Colonel to be a diminutive affair, 
compared with the roaring mill-race in which as a boy he 
had caught minnows. 

The party rode on thus for half an hour, chatting 
leisurely, when Mrs. Hucks, who had been keenly watch- 
ing the scenery for five minutes, pinched her husband and 

1. Mill-race. A canal diverting water from a stream for the 
purpose of running the machinery of a mill. 



THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 321 

cried enthusiastically, as the buggy was descending a 
little knoll: 

'' Here 't is, Father ! This is the place ! '' 

"What place?" asked the Colonel, who was head over 
heels in the tariff. ^ 

''Don't you know, William?" replied his wife with a 
tremble in her voice, which the woman beside her noticed. 

Every one in the buggy was listening. The Colonel 
looked about him ; then, turning to the woman beside his 
wife on the back seat, he said : 

"This is the place where I mighty nigh got tipped over 
trying to drive two horses to a sleigh, with the lines be- 
tween my knees. Mother and me have remembered it, 
someway, ever since." And the old man stroked his 
grizzled beard, and tried to smile on the wrong side of his 
face, that the women might see his joke. They exchanged 
meaning glances when the Colonel turned away, and Mrs. 
Hucks was proudly happy. Even the dullness of the color 
on the grass, which she had remembered as a luscious 
green, did not sadden her for half an hour. 

When the two Kansas people were alone that night, the 
Colonel asked : 

"Don't it seem kind of dwarfed here — to what you 
expected it would be? Seems to me like it 's all shriveled, 
and worn out, and old. Everything's got dust on it. 
The grass by the roads is dusty. The trees that used to 
seem so tall and black with shade are just nothing like 
what they used to be. The hills I 've thought of as young 
mountains don't seem to be so big as our bluff back — 
back home." 

Kansas was "home" to them now. For thirty years 
the struggling couple on the prairie had kept the phrase 

1. Head over heels in the tariff. The Colonel was deeply inter- 
ested in discussing the tariff with his cousin. 

—21 



322 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

''back home" sacred to Ohio. Each felt a thrill at the 
household blasphemy, ^ and both were glad that the 
Colonel had said ''back home," and that it meant Kansas. 

"Are you sorry you come, Father?" said Mrs. Hucks, 
as the Colonel was about to fall into a doze. 

"I don't know, are you?" he asked. 

"Well, yes, I guess I am. I haven't no heart for this, 
the way it is, and I Ve some way lost the picture I had 
fixed in my mind of the way it was. I don't care for 
this, and yet it seems like I do, too. Oh, I wish I hadn't 
come, to find everything so washed out — like it is!" 

And so they looked at pictures of youth through the 
eyes of age. How the colors were faded ! What a tragic 
difference there is between the light which springs from 
the dawn, and the glow which falls from the sunset. 

After that first day Colonel Hucks did not restrain his 
bragging about Kansas. And Mrs. Hucks gave rein to her 
pride when she heard him. Before that day she had 
reserved a secret contempt for a Kansas boaster, and had 
even wished that he might see what Ohio could do in the 
particular line which he was praising. But now, Mrs. 
Hucks caught herself saying to her hostess, "What small 
ears of corn you raise here ! " 

The day after this concession Mrs. Hucks began to grow 
homesick. At first, she worried about the stock; the 
Colonel's chief care was about the dog. The fifth day's 
visit was their last. As they were driving to the town to 
take the train for Kansas, Mrs. Hucks overheard her 
husband discoursing, something after this fashion: 

"I tell you, Jim, before I'd slave my life out on an 
'eighty' the way you 're doin', I 'd go out takin' in white- 

1. Blasphemy. Evil or profane speaking of things sacred. These 
old people had kept "back home" as a term sacred to their old 
Ohio home. Using that term to designate any other place seemed 
to them like blasphemy. 



THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 323 

washin\ It's just like this — a man in Kansas has lower 
taxes, better schools, and more advantages in every way, 
than you Ve got here. And as for grasshoppers? Why, 
Jim West, sech talk makes me tired! My boy Bill's 
been always born and raised in Kansas, and now he 's in 
the legislature, and in all his life, since he can remember, 
he never seen a hopper. Wouldn't know one from a 
sacred ibex,^ if he met it in the road." 

While the women were sitting in the buggy at the 
depot waiting for the train, Mrs. Hucks found herself 
saying: 

*'And as for fruit — why, we fed apples to the hogs this 
fall. I sold the cherries, all but what was on one tree near 
the house, and I put up sixteen quarts from just two sides 
of that tree, and never stepped my foot off the ground to 
pick 'em." 

When they were comfortably seated on the homeward- 
bound train, Mrs. Hucks said to her husband : 

"How do you suppose they live here in this country, 
anyway, Father? Don't any one here seem to own any 
of the land joinin' them, and they 'd no more think of put- 
tin' in water tanks and windmills around their farms than 
they'd think of flyin'. I just wish Mary could come out 
and see my new kitchen sink with the hot and cold water 
in it. Why, she almost fainted when I told her how to fix 
a dreen for her dishwater and things." Then after a sigh 
she added, ''But they are so onprogressive here, now- 
a-days." 

That was the music which the Colonel loved, and he 
took up the strain, and carried the tune for a few miles. 

1. Sacred ibex (i'beks). The ibex is a variety of wild goat 
found in various parts of Europe and Asia. The term "sacred 
ibex" is probably the result of confusion with "sacred ibis," a bird 
of the heron family, common in the Nile basin. The sacred ibis 
was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians. 



324 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Then it became a duet, and the two old souls were very- 
happy. 

They were overjoyed at being bound for Kansas. They 
hungered for kindred spirits. At Peoria/ in the early 
morning, they awakened from their chair-car naps to hear 
a strident^ female voice saying : 

"Well, sir, when the rain did finally come, Mr. Morris 
he just didn't think there was a thing left worth cutting 
on the place, but lo, and behold, we got over forty bushel 
to the acre off of that field, as it was." 

The Colonel was thoroughly awake in an instant, and 
he nudged his wife, as the voice went on : 

"Mr. Morris he was so afraid the wheat was winter 
killed; all the papers said it was; and then come the late 
frost, which every one said had ruined it — but law me — " 

Mrs. Hucks could stand it no longer. With her hus- 
band's cane she reached the owner of the voice, and said : 

"Excuse me, ma'am, but what part of Kansas are you 
from?" 

It seemed like a meeting with a dear relative. The 
rest of the journey to Kansas City was a hallelujah chorus, 
wherein the Colonel sang a powerful and telling bass. 

When he crossed the Kansas state line Colonel Hucks 
began, indeed, to glory in his state. He pointed out the 
school-houses, that rose in every village, and he asked his 
fellow-passenger to note that the school-house is the most 
important piece of architecture in every group of buildings. 
He told the history of every rod of ground along the Kaw 
to Topeka. He dilated^ eloquently, and at length, upon 
the coal mines in Osage county, and he pointed with pride 
to the varied resources of his state. Every prospect was 

1. Peoria. A city in Illinois. 

2. Strident. Loud; harsh; grating. 

3. Dilated. Spoke enthusiastically. 



THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 325 

pleasing to Colonel Hucks, as he rode home that beautiful 
October day, and his wife was more radiantly happy than 
she had been for many years. 

As the train pulled into the little town of Willow Creek, 
that afternoon, the Colonel craned his neck at the car 
window to catch the first glimpse of the big, red stand- 
pipe, and of the big stone school-house on the hill. When 
the whistle blew for the station, the Colonel said: 

''What is it that fool Riley feller says about 'Grigsby's 
Station,^ where we used to be so happy and so pore'?" 

As the Colonel and his wife passed out of the town into 
the quiet country, where the shadows were growing long 
and black, and where the gentle blue haze was hanging 
over the distant hills, that undulated the horizon, a silence 
fell upon the two hearts. Each mind sped back over a 
lifetime to the evening when they had turned out of the 
main road, in which they were traveling. A dog barking 
in the meadow behind the hedge did not startle them from 
their reveries. The restless cattle, wandering down the 
hillside toward the bars, made a natural complement^ to 
the picture which they loved. 

" It is almost sunset. Father, '^ said the wife, as she put 
her hand upon her husband's arm. 

Her touch, and the voice in which she had spoken, 
tightened some cord at his throat. The Colonel could 
only repeat, as he avoided her gaze: 

"Yes, almost sunset. Mother, almost sunset." 

"It has been a long day, William, but you have been 
good to me. Has it been a happy day for you. Father?" 

The Colonel turned his head away. He was afraid to 
trust himself to speech. He clucked to the horses and 
drove down the lane. As they came into the yard, the 

1. Grigshy's Station. A poem by James Whitcomb Riley. 

2. Complement. That which completes. 



326 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Colonel put an arm about his wife and pressed his cheek 
against her face. Then he said drolly : 

''Now, lookie at that dog — come tearin' up here like 
he never saw white folks before ! " 

And so Colonel William Hucks brought his wife back 
to Kansas. Here their youth is woven into the very soil 
they love; here every tree around their home has its 
sacred history; here every sky above them recalls some 
day of trial and of hope. 

Here in the gloaming^ to-night stands an old man, bent 
and grizzled. His eyes are dimmed with tears, which he 
would not acknowledge for the world, and he is dreaming 
strange dreams, while he listens to a little, cracked voice 
in the kitchen, half humming and half singing : 

** Home again, home again, 
From a foreign shore." 

— William Allen White, 

■ From " The Real Issue," by William Allen White, published by 
The Macmillan Company. Reprinted by special permission of the 
publishers. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: generation, pilgrim, "blue- 
stem," emerged, canvas, virgin, troublous, hearty, elbow, spectator, 
procession, stubble-covered, ablaze, gnarled, maturity, quizzing, 
care-furrowed, reverted, wont, turnpike, substantial, bank-account, 
stenciling, sheened, vividness, palpable, puttering, anticipated, 
purling, meditative, destination, boulder, marred, irregularities, 
reconcile, diminutive, mill-race, grizzled, luscious, blasphemy, 
washed, discoursing, concession, ibex, sacred ibis, strident, halle- 
lujah chorus, architecture, resources, craned, reveries, complement, 
drolly, gloaming. 

2. From what states did a large number of the early Kansas 
settlers come? 

3. Explain, "life — stern, troublous — had begun for them." 

4. Explain the reference to the "slow procession," and the 
"little black box." 

5. What does the gathering of neighbors "laden with tin 
presents" suggest? 

2. Gloaming. The dusk of early evening; twilight. 



THE HOME-COMING OF COLONEL HUCKS 327 

6. Explain, "the silent house, whence the children had gone 
out to try issue with the world." 

7. Why did their minds at this time, more than before, go 
back to their old home? 

8. Explain, "pinched and busy life." 

9. Give the picture of their Ohio home, which they still held in 
mind. 

10. Explain Mrs. Hucks' feelings as she put things in order just 
before they started for Ohio. Why did she "pet the furniture"? 

11. Explain, "puttering around the barnyard." 

12. What was uppermost in Mrs. Hucks' mind when she said, 
"Think of what has come — and — and — gone, Father, and here we 
are alone; after it all"? 

13. Why did "the glories of Ohio" seem to fade in their vision 
as Colonel and Mrs. Hucks turned the corner that shut their Kansas 
home from view? 

14. Compare the actual appearance of the Ohio home of the 
Hucks' with their mental pictures of it. How do you account for 
the difference? 

15. Explain, "they looked at pictures of youth through the eyes 
of age. 

16. When did Kansas become home to them? 

17. Explain their enthusiasm for Kansas after the first day in 
Ohio? 

18. How did Mrs. Hucks know that the woman they heard 
talking in the car wasirom Kansas? 

19. What is meant by, "a hallelujah chorus, wherein the colonel 
sang a powerful and telling bass"? 

20. What did Mrs. Hucks mean when she said, "It is almost 
sunset. Father"? 

21. Explain, "It has been a long day." 

22. Why did the love of these two old people for their Kansas 
home far exceed their love for the home of their youth? 



328 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

THE LADY OF THE LAKE 

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was a Scotch poet and novelist. 
His father, a lawyer in Edinburgh, belonged to one of the border 
Scottish clans. Scott was not a strong child, and for this reason 
was sent to the country, where he early developed a love for out- 
door life and for nature. At seven years of age he entered high 
school in Edinburgh. He was a manly, attractive boy, who loved 
sport and was fond of good reading. As a boy he read poems, 
stories, ballads, and family legends concerning life on the border 
between Scotland and England. In 1783 Scott entered Edinburgh 
University, where he gave much attention to romantic literature. 
He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1792. He made 
trips to the Highlands along the border, and as a result added to his 
store of ballads and border legends. These, with those he had 
accumulated in his earlier reading, gave him a rich fund on which 
to draw when he began writing. His first writings of any note 
were " Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," "The Lay of the Last 
Minstrel," "Marmion," and "The Lady of the Lake." These 
poems are splendid pictures of the romantic and chivalrous ages 
on the Scottish border. 

Scott's fame as a writer does not rest upon his poems, popular 
as they were, so much as it does upon his long series of romantic 
novels, twenty-nine in all. For most of these he drew upon the 
same sources that he used in writing his poems. The whole series 
is known under the name of The Waverley Novels. 

Up to 1826 these books had been published anonymously. In 
that year the publishing house with which Scott had been secretly 
connected failed. Scott then acknowledged the authorship of the 
novels, assumed the debt of the company, which amounted to almost 
$600,000, and set to work to pay it with his pen. One book after 
another came forth and was received by the public with delight, 
until Scott's strength gave way. After a voyage in a vain search 
for health he returned to Scotland, and spent his last days in his 
magnificent home at Abbotsford, where he died September 21, 1832. 

Scott's descent from one of the border clans, his early fainiliarity 
with the traditions, legends, and ballads of the border, his intimate 
acquaintance with the region in which the events of " The Lady of 
the Lake" occurred, made it possible for him to give us one of the 
finest examples of romantic poetry in the language. 

The story is based on a tradition connected with the life 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 329 

of James V., of Scotland. Canto First, The Chase, tells how Fitz- 
James, in pursuit of a stag, becomes separated from his hunting 
party, suffers the loss of his steed, and is lost in the forest. The story 
of his meeting with Ellen, the daughter of Douglas, an outlawed 
knight of his kingdom, and of his being entertained by her at her 
island home, is one of the most interesting incidents of the poem. 

THE LADY OF THE LAKE 

Canto First 
The Chase 

Harp of the North !^ that mouldering long hast hung 

On the witch-elm^ that shades Saint Fillan's spring,^ 
And down the fitful breeze thy numbers^ flung, 

Till envious ivy did around thee cling, 
Muffling with verdant ringlet every string,^ 

Minstrel Harp,^ still must thine accents sleep? 
'Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring, 

Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep, 
Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep? 

Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon,'' 
Was thy voice mute amid the festal crowd, 

1. Harp of the North! that mouldering long hast hung. "The 
North" is Scotland. The poet means that the singers, or poets, of 
his country have for a long time been silent. In this and the follow- 
ing two verses Scott addresses the harp as the inspiration of the 
poetry of Scotland. 

2. Witch-elm. The drooping, broad-leaved elm of Scotland. It 
is called witch-elm because its twigs were used as divining rods 
by "water witches." 

3. Saint Fillan's spring. Saint Fillan was a Scottish abbot of 
the eighth century. The spring referred to here is probably the one 
west of Loch (or Lake) Earn. It was also called the Holy Pool. 

4. Numbers. Verses. 

5. Minstrel Harp. The harp of ancient minstrels, who went 
about from place to place playing and singing their verses in the 
halls of nobles. 

6. Caledon. A contracted form of Caledonia, the poetical name 
for Scotland. 



330 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

When lay of hopeless love, or glory won, 
Aroused the fearful, or subdued the proud. 

At each according pause, ^ was heard aloud 
Thine ardent symphony sublime and high ! 

Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bow'd, 
For still the burden^ of thy minstrelsy 

Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's match- 
less eye. 

wake once more ! how rude soe'er the hand 

That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray ; 
wake once more ! though scarce my skill command 

Some feeble echoing of thine earlier lay : 
Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away, 

And all unworthy of thy nobler strain, 
Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway, 

The wizard note has not been touch 'd in vain. 
Then silent be no more! Enchantress,^ wake again! 

I 

The stag at eve had drunk his fill. 
Where danced the moon on Monan's rill,* 
And deep his midnight lair had made 
In lone Glenartney 's hazel shade ; ^ 
But, when the sun his beacon red 
Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head,® 

1. According 'pause. A pause or interval in the singing, during 
which the harp was played. 

2. Burden, Central thought; theme. 

3. Enchantress. The harp. 

4. Monan's rill. A stream named after Saint Monan, a Scottish 
martyr of the fourth century. 

5. Glenartney's hazel shade. The stag had been hiding in the 
shelter of the hazels growing on the borders of the Glenartney 
River, a small stream in central Scotland. 

6. Benvoirlich's head (ben-vor'lik), "Ben" is Scotch for moun- 
tain. Benvoirlich is a mountain in Dumbartonshire. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 331 

The deep-mouth 'd bloodhound's heavy bay- 
Resounded up the rocky way, 
And faint, from farther distance borne, 
Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. 

II 

As Chief who hears his warder^ call, 

*'To arms! the foemen storm the wall," 

The antler'd monarch of the waste^ 

Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. 

But, ere his fleet career he took, 

The dewdrops from his flanks he shook ; 

Like crested leader proud and high, 

Toss'd his beam'd frontlet^ to the sky; 

A moment gazed adown the dale, 

A moment snuff'd the tainted gale,* 

A moment listened to the cry. 

That thickened as the chase drew nigh ; 

Then, as the headmost foes appeared. 

With one brave bound the copse^ he clear 'd. 

And, stretching forward free and far, 

Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var.^ 

Ill 

Yeird on the view the opening pack ; 
Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back ; 

1. Warder. The guard of the castle; the keeper of the gate. 

2. Waste. Forest; any uncultivated ground. 

3. Beam'd frontlet. Antlered forehead. 

4. Tainted gale. Scented gale. The stag was able to scent the 
hounds by means of the wind. 

5. Copse. A thicket of bushes or a wood of small trees. 

6. Uam-Var (u'a-var). A mountain lying southeast of Loch 
Earn. It was fabled to have been the home of a giant, and was 
later frequented by a dangerous band of robbers. 



332 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

To many a mingled sound at once 
The awaken'd mountain gave response. 
A hundred dogs bay'd deep and strong, 
Clatter'd a hundred steeds along, 
Their peal the merry horns rung out, 
A hundred voices join'd the shout; 
With hark and whoop and wild halloo, 
No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. 
Far from the tumult fled the roe. 
Close in her covert cower'd the doe, 
The falcon,^ from her cairn^ on high, 
Cast on the rout^ a wondering eye, 
Till far beyond her piercing ken* 
The hurricane had swept the glen. 
Faint, and more faint, its failing din 
Returned from cavern, cliff, and linn,* 
And silence settled, wide and still. 
On the lone wood and mighty hill. 

IV 

Less loud the sounds of sylvan war 
Disturb 'd the heights of Uam-Var, 
And roused the cavern where, 'tis told, 
A giant made his den of old ; 
For ere that steep ascent was won, 
High in his pathway hung the sun, 

1. Falcon (fa'c'n). A species of hawk that was often tamed and 
trained to hunt other birds. 

2. Cairn (karn). A mound or heap of stones erected as a monu- 
ment or landmark. Here it means the rocky crags high on the 
mountain side. 

3. Rout. The chase. 

4. Ken. Vision. 

5. Linn. Pool. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 833 

And many a gallant, stayed perforce/ 
Was fain to breathe^ his faltering horse, 
And of the trackers of the deer, 
Scarce half the lessening pack was near ; 
So shrewdly^ on the mountain side 
Had the bold burst^ their mettle^ tried. 

V 

The noble stag was pausing now 
Upon the mountain's southern brow. 
Where broad extended, far beneath. 
The varied realms of fair Menteith.^ 
With anxious eye he wandered o'er 
Mountain and meadow, moss and moor,^ 
And ponder 'd refuge from his toil. 
By far Lochard or Aberfoyle.^ 
But nearer was the copsewood gray, 
That waved and wept on Loch Achray,' 
And mingled with the pine-trees blue 
On the bold cliffs of Ben venue. ^^ 
Fresh vigor with the hope returned. 
With flying foot the heath he spurn 'd. 
Held westward with unwearied race, 
And left behind the panting chase. 



1. Stayed perforce. Stopped of necessity. 

2. To breathe. To permit to take breath; to allow to rest. 

3. Shrewdly. Severely. 

4. Burst. The stretch of hard running. 

5. Mettle. Spirit or quality. 

6. Menieith. A district on the border of the River Teith. 

7. Moss and moor. Bog and marsh. 

8. Lochard or Aberfoyle. Lochard is a small lake near the 
village of Aberfoyle. 

9. Loch Achray. A small lake near Loch Katrine. 

10. Benvenue (ben-ve-noo'). A mountain south of the eastern 
end of Loch Katrine. 



334 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

VI 

Twere long to tell what steeds gave o'er, 
As swept the hunt through Cambusmore;^ 
What reins were tightened in despair, 
When rose Benledi's ridge^ in air ; 
Who flagged upon Bochastle's heath,^ 
Who shunn'd to stem the flooded Teith — 
For twice that day, from shore to shore, 
The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. 
Few were the stragglers, following far, 
That reached the lake of Vennachar; 
And when the Brigg of Turk^ was won. 
The headmost horseman rode alone. 

VII 

Alone, but with unbated zeal, 

That horseman plied the scourge and steel f 

For jaded now, and spent with toil, 

Emboss 'd with foam, and dark with soil, 

While every gasp with sobs he drew. 

The laboring stag strain 'd full in view. 

Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed,* 

Unmatch'd for courage, breath, and speed. 

Fast on his flying traces came. 

And all but won that desperate game ; 

For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch. 

Vindictive toil'd the bloodhounds stanch; 

Nor nearer might the dogs attain, 

1. Camhusmore. A country estate near the river Teith'. 

2. BenledVs ridge. A mountain ridge about tem miles west of 
Uam-Var. 

3. Bochastle's heath. A flat plain near the south end of Benledi. 

4. Brigg of Turk. A bridge near the eastern end of Lock Achray. 

5. Scourge and steel. Whip and spur. 

6. Saint Hubert's breed. A variety of hound bred by the abbots 
of Saint Hubert's monastery. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 835 

Nor farther might the quarry^ strain. 
Thus up the margin of the lake, 
Between the precipice and brake,^ 
O'er stock^ and rock their race they take. 

VIII 

The hunter marked that mountain high. 
The lone lake's western boundary. 
And deem'd the stag must turn to bay, 
Where that huge rampart barr'd the way ; 
Already glorying in the prize. 
Measured his antlers with his eyes ; 
For the death-wound and death-halloo, 
Mustered his breath, his whinyard"* drew ',— 
But thundering as he came prepared, 
With ready arm and weapon bared, 
The wily quarry shunn'd the shock. 
And turn'd him from the opposing rock ; 
Then, dashing down a darksome glen. 
Soon lost to hound and Hunter's ken, 
In the deep Trosachs'^ wildest nook 
His solitary refuge took. 
There, while close couch 'd, the thicket shed 
Gold dews and wild-flowers on his head, 
He heard the baffled dogs in vain 
Rave through the hollow pass amain, 
Chiding^ the rocks that yelFd again.^ 



1. Quarry. Hunted animaL 

2. Brake, A thicket. 

3. Stock. A stump or log. 

4. Whinyard. A short sword. 

5. Trosachs (tr6s'wks). The wild region near Loch Katrine and 
Loch Achray. 

6. Chiding. Reproving; scolding. 

7. Yell'd again. Gave back echo. 



336 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

IX 

Close on the hounds the Hunter came, 
To cheer them on the vanished game; 
But, stumbhng in the rugged dell. 
The gallant horse exhausted fell. 
The impatient rider strove in vain 
To rouse him with the spur and rein. 
For the good steed, his labors o'er, 
Stretch'd his stiff limbs, to rise no more, 
Then, touch 'd with pity and remorse. 
He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. 
*' I little thought, when first thy rein 
I slack'd upon the banks of Seine,^ 
That Highland eagle e'er should feed 
On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed ! 
Woe worth^ the chase, woe worth the day, 
That costs thy life, my gallant gray!" 

X 

Then through the dell his horn resounds, 
From vain pursuit to call the hounds. 
Back limp'd, with slow and crippled pace, 
The sulky leaders of the chase ; 
Close to their master's side they press'd. 
With drooping tail and humbled crest; 
But still the dingle's hollow throat^ 
Prolong'd the swelling bugle-note. 
The owlets started from their dream. 
The eagles answer'd with their scream. 
Round and around the sounds were cast, 
Till echo seem'd an answering blast ; 

1. Seine. A river in France, on the banks of which Paris is 
situated. 

2. Woe worth. Woe be to. 

3. Dingle's hollow throat. The walls of the narrow valley or glen. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 387 

And on the Hunter hied his way, 
To join some comrades of the day; 
Yet often paused, so strange the road. 
So wondrous were the scenes it showed. 

XI 

The western waves of ebbing day 
Roird o'er the glen their level way; 
Each purple peak, each flinty spire, 
Was bathed in floods of living fire. 
But not a setting beam could glow 
Within the dark ravines below, 
Where twined the path in shadow hid, 
Round many a rocky pyramid, 
Shooting abruptly from the dell 
Its thunder-splinter 'd pinnacle ;^ 
Round many an insulated mass. 
The native bulwarks of the pass. 
Huge as the tower- which builders vain 
Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. 
The rocky summits, split and rent, 
Formed turret, dome, or battlement, 
Or seem'd fantastically set 
With cupola or minaret,^ 
Wild crests as pagod^ ever decked, 
Or mosque^ of Eastern architect. 
Nor were these earth-born castles bare. 
Nor lack'd they many a banner fair ; 

1. Pinnacle. Highest point; summit. 

2. Tower. The tower of Babel. See Genesis xi, 1-9. 

3. Minaret. A slender, lofty tower. 

4. Pagod. An idol. 

5. Mosque. A Mohammedan temple. 

—22 



338 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

For, from their shiver 'd brows displayed, 
Far, o'er the unfathomable glade, ^ 
All twinkhng with the dewdrop sheen, 
The brier-rose fell in streamers green, 
And creeping shrubs, of thousand dyes 
Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs. 

XII 

Boon^ nature scatter'd, free and wild. 
Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. 
Here eglantine embalm 'd the air, 
Hawthorn and hazel mingled there ; 
The primrose pale and violet flower. 
Found in each clif t a narrow bower ; ^ 
Fox-glove and night-shade, side by side. 
Emblems of punishment and pride. 
Group 'd their dark hues with every stain 
The weather-beaten crags retain. 
With boughs that quaked at every breath, 
Gray birch and aspen wept beneath ; 
Aloft, the ash and warrior oak 
Cast anchor in the rifted^ rock; 
And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung 
His shatter'd trunk, and frequent flung. 
Where seem'd the cliffs to meet on high, 
His boughs athwart the narrow'd sky. 
Highest of all, where white peaks glanced. 
Where glist'ning streamers waved and danced. 
The wanderer's eye could barely view 
The summer heaven's delicious blue ; 



1. Glade. An open space in the forest. 

2. Boon. Bounteous. 

3. Bower. A shady recess or leafy nook. 

4. Rifted. Cracked, split. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 339 

So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 
The scenery of a fairy dream. 

xni 

Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep 
A narrow inlet, ^ still and deep, 
Affording scarce such breadth of brim 
As served the wild duck's brood to swim. 
Lost for a space, through thickets veering,' 
But broader when again appearing, 
Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face 
Could on the dark-blue mirror trace; 
And farther as the Hunter stray'd, 
Still broader sweep its channels made. 
The shaggy mounds no longer stood. 
Emerging from entangled wood, 
But, wave-encircled, seem'd to float, 
Like castle girdled with its moat;^ 
Yet broader floods extending still 
Divide them from their parent hill, 
Till each, retiring, claims to be 
An islet in an inland sea. 

XIV 
And now, to issue from the glen, 
No pathway meets the wanderer's ken. 
Unless he climb, with footing nice,* 
A far-projecting precipice. 
The broom's tough roots^ his ladder made. 
The hazel saplings lent their aid ; 

1. Inlet. A narrow strip^of water running into the land. 

2. Veering. Turning; shifting. 

3. Moat. A ditch surrounding a castle or a fortification. 

4. Nice. Delicate; careful; exact. 

5. Broom's tough roots. The strong roots of the broom plant. 



340 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

And thus an airy point he won, 

Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 

One burnished sheet of hving gold, 

Loch Katrine^ lay beneath him roll'd. 

In all her length far winding lay, 

With promontory, creek, and bay, 

And islands that, empurpled bright. 

Floated amid the livelier light. 

And mountains, that like giants stand, 

To sentinel enchanted land. 

High on the south, huge Benvenue 

Down on the lake in masses threw 

Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurl'd, 

The fragments of an earlier world ; 

A wildering^ forest feather'd o'er 

His ruined sides and summit hoar, 

While on the north, through middle air, 

Ben-an^ heaved high his forehead bare. 

XV 

From the steep promontory gazed 
The stranger, raptured and amazed. 
And, ''What a scene were here," he cried, 
''For princely pomp, or churchman's pride! 
On this bold brow, a lordly tower ; 
In that soft vale, a lady's bower ; 
On yonder meadow, far away, 
The turrets of a cloister^ gray ; 
How blithely might the bugle-horn 
Chide, on the lake, the lingering morn ! 

1. Loch Katrine. Loch Katrine is about five miles east of Loch 
Lomond. It is nine miles long and two miles broad, and is sur- 
rounded by high cliffs and rocky ravines. 

2. Wildering (wirder-ing). Bewildering. 

3. Ben-an. A summit east of Loch Katrine, 

4. Cloister. A monastery. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 341 

How sweet, at eve the lover's lute 

Chime, when the groves were still and mute ! 

And, when the midnight moon should lave 

Her forehead in the silver wave, 

How solemn on the ear would come 

The holy matins' distant hum,^ 

While the deep peal's commanding tone 

Should wake, in yonder islet lone, 

A sainted hermit from his cell. 

To drop a bead with every knell — ^ 

And bugle, lute, and bell, and all, 

Should each bewilder'd stranger call 

To friendly feast, and lighted hall. 

XVI 
*' Blithe were it then to wander here ! 
But now, — beshrew^ yon nimble deer, — • 
Like that same hermit's, thin and spare. 
The copse must give my evening fare ; 
Some mossy bank my couch must be, 
Some rustling oak my canopy. 
Yet pass we that ; the war and chase 
Give little choice of resting-place ; — 
A summer night, in greenwood spent, 
Were but to-morrow's merriment : 
But hosts may in these wilds abound, 
Such as are better missed than found ; * 

1. Matins' distant hunn. The murmur of priests reciting a mid- 
night prayer. (Not to be confused with the morning services 
usually signified by the word matins.) 

2. To drop a head with every knell. Here bead means prayer. 
The hermit offers a prayer at each stroke of the bell, and with each 
prayer counts a bead in his rosary. 

3. Beshrew. A mild curse, used much the same as "plague on." 

4. Hosts . . . better missed than found. At the time of this 
story outlaw robber bands infested this region. 



342 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

To meet with Highland plunderers here 
Were worse than loss of steed or deer. 
I am alone; — ^my bugle-strain 
May call some straggler of the train ; 
Or, fall the worst that may betide, 
Ere now this falchion^ has been tried," 

XVII 

But scarce again his horn he wound, 

When lo ! forth starting at the sound, 

From underneath an aged oak. 

That slanted from the islet rock, 

A damsel guider of its way, 

A little sldff shot to the bay. 

That round the promontory steep 

Let its deep line in graceful sweep, 

Eddying, in almost viewless wave, 

The weeping willow twig to lave, 

And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, 

The beach of pebbles bright as snow. 

The boat had touch'd this silver strand, 

Just as the Hunter left his stand. 

And stood conceal'd amid the brake. 

To view this Lady of the Lake. 

The maiden paused, as if again 

She thought to catch the distant strain. 

With head up-raised, and look intent, 

And eye and ear attentive bent, 

And locks flung back, and lips apart. 

Like monument of Grecian art, 

In listening mood, she seem'd to stand 

The guardian Naiad^ of the strand. 



1. Falchion (fal'sh-un). A sword with a curved blade. 

2. Naiad (na'yad). A semi-divine maiden, presiding over lakes 
and brooks. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 343 

xvni 

And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace 
A Nymph, ^ a Naiad, or a Grace,* 
Of finer form, or loveher face ! 
What though the sun, with ardent frown, 
Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown, — 
The sportive toil, which, short and Hght, 
Had dyed her glowing hue so bright, 
Served too in hastier swell to show 
■ Short glimpses of a breast of snow : 
What though no rule of courtly grace 
To measured mood had train'd her pace, — 
A foot more light, a step more true. 
Ne'er from the heath-flower dash'd the dew ; 
E'en the slight harebell raised its head. 
Elastic from her airy tread : 
What though upon her speech there hung 
The accents of the mountain tongue, — 
Those silver sounds, so soft, so clear. 
The listener held his breath to hear ! 

XIX 

A chieftain's daughter seem'd the maid ; 
Her satin snood, ^ her silken plaid,^ 
Her golden brooch, such birth betray'd. 
And seldom was a snood amid 
Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, 

1. Nymph. A beautiful maiden belonging to a class of semi- 
divine beings, living in groves, forests or other natural resorts. 

2. Grace. The Graces were three godesses, the personifications 
of grace, beauty, and joy. 

3. Snood. The ribbon with which the hair of the Scottish 
maiden is tied. It is emblematic of maidenhood. 

4. Plaid (plad). A garment, cross-barred with different colors, 
worn by the Scottish Highlanders of both sexes. 



344 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Whose glossy black to shame might bring 
The plumage of the raven's wing ; 
And seldom o'er a breast so fair, 
Mantled^ a plaid with modest care, 
And never brooch the folds combined 
Above a heart more good and kind. 
Her kindness and her worth to spy, 
You need but gaze on Ellen's eye : 
Not Katrine, in her mirror blue. 
Gives back the shaggy banks more true, 
Than every free-born glance confess 'd^ 
The guileless movements of her breast; 
Whether joy danced in her dark eye, 
Or woe or pity claim'd a sigh, 
Or filial love^ was glowing there. 
Or meek devotion poured a prayer, 
Or tale of injury called forth 
The indignant spirit of the North.^ 
One only passion unreveal'd, 
With maiden pride the maid conceal 'd, 
Yet not less purely felt the flame ; — 
need I tell that passion's name? 

XX 

Impatient of the silent horn. 
Now on the gale her voice was borne : — 
"Father!" she cried; the rocks around 
Loved to prolong the gentle sound. 

1. Mantled. Overspread. 

2. Confessed. Expressed or disclosed. 

3. Filial love. The love of son or daughter for a parent. 

4. Indignant spirit of the North. Fiery spirit of the Scotch people. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 345 

Awhile she paused, no answer came, — 
''Malcolm,^ was thine the blast?" the name 
Less resolutely utter 'd fell, 
The echoes could not catch the swell. 
'*A stranger I," the Huntsman said, 
Advancing from the hazel shade. 
The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar 
Pushed her light shallop^ from the shore. 
And when a space was gained between, 
Closer she drew her bosom's screen; 
(So forth the startled swan would swing, 
So turn to prune^ his ruffled wing). 
Then safe, though fluttered and amazed. 
She paused, and on the stranger gazed. 
Not his the form, nor his the eye, 
That youthful maidens wont to fly.* 

XXI 

On his bold visage middle age 
Had slightly pressed its signet sage,^ 
Yet had not quench'd the open truth 
And fiery vehemence of youth ; 
Forward and frolic glee^ was there, 
The will to do, the soul to dare. 
The sparkling glance, soon blown to fire, 
Of hasty love, or headlong ire."^ 

1. Malcolm. Malcolm Graeme, the Highland lover of Ellen. 

2. Shallop. A small boat. 

3. To prune. To arrange ruffled or damaged plumage. 

4. Wont to fly. Are accustomed to flee from. 

5. Signet sage. Seal or sign of wisdom. 

6. Forward and frolic glee. Bold and playful glee. 

7. Headlong ire. Rash anger. 



346 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

His limbs were cast in manly mould, 

For hardy sports or contest bold ; 

And though in peaceful garb array'd, 

And weaponless, except his blade. 

His stately mien as well implied 

A high-born heart, a martial pride, ^ 

As if a Baron's crest^ he wore, 

And sheathed in armor trode the shore. 

Slighting the petty need^ he showed. 

He told of his benighted road ; 

His ready speech fiow'd fair and free. 

In phrase of gentlest courtesy; 

Yet seem'd that tone, and gesture bland, 

Less used to sue than to command. 

XXII 

Awhile the maid the stranger eyed. 
And, reassured, at length replied, 
That Highland halls were open still 
To wilder'd* wanderers of the hill. 
"Nor think you unexpected come 
To yon lone isle, our desert home ; 
Before the heath had lost the dew. 
This morn, a couch was pulFd^ for you ; 
On yonder mountain's purple head 
Have ptarmigan and heath-cock^ bled, 

1. Martial pride. The pride of a warrior. 

2. Baron's crest. The plume or tuft on the helmet worn by a 
baron. 

3. Slighting the petty need. Making light of his need for food and 
shelter. 

4. Wilder'd. Lost. 

5. Couch was pulVd. The heather for making a couch was pulled. 

6. Ptarmigan and heath-cock. Wild fowl common in Scotland. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 347 

And our broad nets have swept the mere,^ 
To furnish forth your evening cheer." 
"Now, by the rood,^ my lovely maid, 
Your courtesy has err'd," he said; 
''No right have I to claim, misplaced, 
The welcome of expected guest. 
A wanderer, here by fortune tost. 
My way, my friends, my courser' lost, 
I ne'er before, believe me, fair. 
Have ever drawn your mountain air, 
Till on this lake's romantic strand, 
I found a fay Mn fairy land ! " 

XXIII 

"I well believe," the maid repHed, 

As her light skiff approached the side, — 

" I well believe, that ne'er before 

Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore ; 

But yet, as far as^ yesternight. 

Old Allan-bane^ foretold your plight, — 

A gray-hair'd sire, whose eye intent 

Was on the visioned future bent. 

He saw your steed, a dappled gray, 

Lie dead beneath the birchen way ; 

Painted exact your form and mien, 

Your hunting-suit of Lincoln green,'' 

1. Mere. Lake. 

2. By the rood. By the cross. A common form of oath. 

3. Courser. A steed. 

4. Fay. A fairy. The Hunter said this in compliment to the 
young lady. 

5. As far as. As long ago as. 

6. Old Allan-bane. The minstrel of the poem. He was gifted 
with the power of prophecy. Bane (ban) means fair-haired. 

7. Lincoln green. A color produced in Lincoln, England; also a 
cloth made in Lincoln. 



348 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

That tasseird horn so gayly gilt, 
That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, 
That cap with heron plumage trim, 
And yon two hounds so dark and grim. 
He bade that all should ready be 
To grace a guest of fair degree ; ^ 
But light I held his prophecy. 
And deemed it was my father's horn, 
Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne." 

XXIV 

The stranger smiled: — ''Since to your home 

A destined errant-knight- 1 come, 

Announced by prophet sooth^ and old, 

Doom'd, doubtless, for achievement bold, 

ril lightly front each high emprise^ 

For one kind glance of those bright eyes. 

Permit me first the task to guide 

Your fairy frigate o'er the tide." 

The maid, with smile suppress 'd and sly, 

The toil unwonted^ saw him try; 

For seldom, sure, if e'er before. 

His noble hand had grasp 'd an oar; 

Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, 

And o'er the lake the shallop flew ; 

With heads erect and whimpering cry, 

The hounds behind their passage ply. 

Nor frequent does the bright oar break 

The dark'ning mirror of the lake, 

1. Fair degree. High degree. 

2. Errant-knight. A knight roving or wandering in search of 
adventure. 

3. Sooth. Truthful. 

4. Front each high emprise. Face each great undertaking. 

5. Toil unwonted. Labor to which he was not accustomed. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 349 

Until the rocky isle they reach, 
And moor their shallop on the beach. 

XXV 

The stranger viewed the shore around ; 
Twas all so close with copsewood bound, 
Nor track nor pathway might declare 
That human foot frequented there. 
Until the mountain-maiden show'd 
A clambering unsuspected road, 
That winded through the tangled screen, 
And openM on a narrow green. 
Where weeping birch and willow round 
With their long fibres swept the ground. 
Here, for retreat in dangerous hour. 
Some chief had framed a rustic bower. 

XXVI 

It was a lodge of ample size. 

But strange of structure and device ; 

Of such materials as around 

The workman's hand had readiest found. 

Lopp'd of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared, 

And by the hatchet rudely squared. 

To give the walls their destined^ height, 

The sturdy oak and ash unite ; 

While moss and clay and leaves combined 

To fence each crevice from the wind. 

The lighter pine-trees, overhead. 

Their slender length for rafters spread, 

And withered heath and rushes dry 

Supplied a russet canopy. 



1. Destined. Desired. 



350 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Due westward, fronting to the green, 

A rural portico was seen, 

Aloft on native pillars^ borne. 

Of mountain fir with bark unshorn, 

Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine 

The ivy and Idsean^ vine. 

The clematis,^ the favor'd flower 

Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, 

And every hardy plant could bear 

Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. . 

An instant in this porch she stayed, 

And gayly to the stranger said, 

''On heaven and on thy lady call,* 

And enter the enchanted hall!" 

XXVII 

''My hope, my heaven, my trust must be. 
My gentle guide, in following thee." 
He cross 'd the threshold — and a clang 
Of angry steel that instant rang. 
To his bold brow his spirit rush'd,^ 
But soon for vain alarm he blush'd. 
When on the floor he saw displayed, 
Cause of the din, a naked blade 
Dropp'd from the sheath, that careless flung 
Upon a stag's huge antlers swung; 

1. Native pillars. Growing trees. 

2. Idsean (I-de'an). A word derived from Mount Ida, a mountain 
near the ancient city of Troy. 

3. Clematis (klem'a-tis). A flowering vine, two species of which, 
the virgin's-bower and the traveler 's-joy, have small white flowers 
in large clusters. 

4. On heaven and on thy lady call. The knight-errant, upon 
undertaking any dangerous enterprise, called upon heaven and his 
lady for spiritual guidance. 

5. To his bold brow his spirit rush'd. His alarm at hearing the 
clang of steel showed itself on his countenance. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 351 

For all around, the walls to grace, 
Hung trophies of the fight or chase; 
A target^ there, a bugle here, 
A battle-axe, a hunting-spear, 
And broadswords, bows, and arrows store, 
With the tusked trophies of the boar. 
Here grins the wolf as when he died, 
And there the wild-cat's brindled hide 
The frontlet of the elk adorns. 
Or mantles o'er the bison's horns; 
Pennons and flags defaced and stain 'd. 
That blackening streaks of blood retain'd, 
And deerskins, dappled, dun, and white, 
With otter's fur and seal's unite. 
In rude and uncouth tapestry all, 
To garnish forth^ the sylvan hall. 

xxvni 
The wondering stranger round him gazed. 
And next the fallen weapon raised : — 
Few were the arms whose sinewy strength 
Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. 
And as the brand^ he poised and sway'd, 
''I never knew but one," he said, 
''Whose stalwart arm might brook* to wield 
A blade like this in battle-field." 
She sigh'd, then smiled and took the word; 
"You see the guardian champion's sword; 
As light it trembles in his hand 
As in my grasp a hazel wand ; 

1. Target. A small shield; a buckler. 

2. Garnish forth. Decorate. 

3. Brand. Sword; weapon, 

4. Brook. Endure. 



352 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

My sire's tall form might grace the part 
Of Ferragus, or Ascabart;^ 
But in the absent giant's hold 
Are women now, and menials old." 

XXIX 

The mistress of the mansion came, 

Mature of age, a graceful dame. 

Whose easy step and stately port 

Had well become a princely court, 

To whom, though more than kindred knew, 

Young Ellen gave a mother's due. 

Meet welcome to her guest she made. 

And every courteous rite was paid. 

That hospitality could claim, 

Though all unask'd his birth and name.^ 

Such then the reverence to a guest. 

That fellest^ foe might join the feast, 

And from his deadliest foeman's door 

Unquestion'd turn, the banquet o'er. 

At length his rank the stranger names, 

"The Knight of Snowdoun,^ James Fitz- James; 

Lord of a barren heritage. 

Which his brave sires, from age to age. 

By their good swords had held with toil ; 

His sire had fall'n in such turmoil, 



1. Ferragus, or Ascahart. Ferragus was a Saracen giant forty 
feet in height and of twenty men's strength. Ascabart was a giant 
thirty feet in height, who was conquered by Sir Bevis of Hampton, 

2. Unasked his birth and name. It was considered discourteous 
to ask a guest his name until he had taken refreshments. 

3. Fellest. Most dreadful. 

4. Snowdoun. An ancient name for Stirling, the seat of one of 
the favorite castles of James V. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 353 

And he, God wot,^ was forced to stand 
Oft for his right with blade in hand. 
This morning with Lord Moray's train 
He chased a stalwart stag in vain, 
Outstripped his comrades, miss'd the deer, 
Lost his good steed, and wander'd here." 

XXX 

Fain would the Knight in turn require^ 
The name and state of Ellen's sire. 
Well show'd the elder lady's mien 
That courts and cities she had seen; 
Ellen, though more her looks display'd 
The- simple grace of sylvan maid. 
In speech and gesture, form and face, 
Show'd she was come of gentle race. 
'Twere strange in ruder rank to find 
Such looks, such manners, and such mind. 
Each hint the Knight of Snowdoim gave. 
Dame Margaret heard with silence grave ; 
Or Ellen, innocently gay, 
Tum'd all inquiry light away : — 
"Weird^ women we! by dale and down* 
We dwell, afar from tower and town. 
We stem the flood, we ride the blast, 
On wandering knights our spells we cast ; 
While viewless minstrels touch the string, 
'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing." 
She sung, and still a harp unseen 
Fill'd up the symphony between. 



1. Wot. Knows. 

2. Require. Ask. 

3. Weird. Dealing in witchcraft. 

4. Down. Hill. 

—23 



354 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

XXXI 

Song 

"Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, 

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking; 

Dream of battle-fields no more, 
Days of danger, nights of waking. 

In our isle's enchanted hall. 

Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, 

Fairy strains of music fall, 

Every sense in slumber dewing. 

Soldier, rest ! thy warfare o'er, 

Dream of fighting-fields no more ; 

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, 

Morn of toil, nor night of waking. 

"No rude sound shall reach thine ear, 

Armor's clang or war-steed champing, 
Trump nor pibroch^ summon here 

Mustering clan or squadron tramping. 
Yet the lark's shrill fife may come 

At the daybreak from the fallow, ^ 
And the bittern^ sound his drum. 

Booming from the sedgy shallow. 
Ruder sounds shall none be near. 
Guards nor warders challenge here. 
Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing, 
Shouting clans or squadrons stamping." 

1. Pibroch (pe'brok). A wild, irregular form of martial music 
played by the Highland Scots on the bagpipe. Here the word 
means bagpipe. 

2. Fallow. Uncultivated land. 

3. Bittern. A bird belonging to the heron family. Because of the 
sounds of its notes it is sometimes called "stake driver." 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 355 

XXXII 

She paused — then, blushing, led the lay 
To grace^ the stranger of the day. 
Her mellow notes awhile prolong 
The cadence of the flowing song, 
Till to her lips in measured frame 
The minstrel verse spontaneous came. 

Song Continued 

" Huntsman, rest ! thy chase is done ; 

While our slumbrous spells assail ye, 
Dream not, with the rising sun. 

Bugles here shall sound reveille. ^ 
Sleep ! the deer is in his den ; 

Sleep ! thy hounds are by thee lying ; 
Sleep ! nor dream in yonder glen 

How thy gallant steed lay dying. 
Huntsman, rest ! thy chase is done ; 
Think not of the rising sun, 
For at dawning to assail ye 
Here no bugles sound reveille." 

XXXIII 

The hall was clear 'd, the stranger's bed 
Was there of mountain heather spread. 
Where oft a hundred guests had lain, 
And dream'd their forest sports again. 
But vainly did the heath-flower shed 
Its moorland fragrance round his head ; 
Not Ellen's spell had lull'd to rest 
The fever of his troubled breast. 

1. Grace. Honor. 

2. Reveille (re-varya). A signal notfying soldiers that it is time 
to rise. 



356 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

In broken dreams the image rose 
Of varied perils, pains, and woes : 
His steed now flounders in the brake, 
Now sinks his barge upon the lake ; 
Now leader of a broken host. 
His standard falls, his honor's lost. 
Then — from my couch may heavenly might 
Chase that worst phantom of the night ! — 
Again return 'd the scenes of youth, 
Of confident, undoubting truth ; 
Again his soul he interchanged 
With friends whose hearts were long estranged.^ 
They come, in dim procession led, 
The cold, the faithless, and the dead ; 
As warm each hand, each brow as gay, 
As if they parted yesterday. 
- And doubt distracts him at the view — 
were his senses false or true? 
Dreamed he of death or broken vow, 
Or is it all a vision now? 

XXXIV 

At length, with Ellen in a grove 
He seem'd to walk and speak of love ; 
She listened with a blush and sigh, 
His suit was warm, his hopes were high. 
. He sought her yielded hand to clasp. 
And a cold gauntlet met his grasp : 
The phantom's sex was changed and gone. 
Upon its head a helmet shone ; 
Slowly enlarged to giant size. 
With darkened cheek and threatening eyes, 

1. Estranged (es-tranjd'). Indifferent; alienated. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 357 

The grisly visage/ stern and hoar, 

To Ellen still a likeness bore. — 

He woke, and, panting with affright, 

Recaird the vision of the night. 

The hearth's decaying brands were red, 

And deep and dusky lustre shed. 

Half showing, half concealing, all 

The uncouth trophies of the hall. 

' Mid those the stranger fixed his eye 

Where that huge falchion hung on high. 

And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng, 

Rush'd, chasing countless thoughts along, 

Until, the giddy whirl to cure, 

He rose and sought the moonshine pure. 

XXXV 

The wild-rose, eglantine, and broom, 
Wasted around their rich perfume ; 
The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm. 
The aspens slept beneath the calm ; 
The silver light, with quivering glance, 
Play'd on the water's still expanse, — 
Wild were the heart whose passion's sway 
Could rage beneath the sober ray ! 
He felt its calm, that warrior guest, 
While thus he communed with his breast : 
"Why is it, at each turn I trace 
Some memory of that exil'd race?^ 
Can I not mountain maiden spy, 
But she must bear the Douglas eye? 

1. Grisly visage. Horrible, weird countenance. 

2. That exiVd race. During the minority of James V., the 
Douglas family was outlawed because of the attempt of Archibald 
Douglas, Earl of Angus, to hold James V. a prisoner. 



358 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

Can I not view a Highland brand, 
But it must match the Douglas hand? 
Can I not frame a fever'd dream, 
But still the Douglas is the theme? 
ril dream no more — by manly mind 
Not even in sleep is will resign 'd. 
My midnight orisons^ said o'er, 
Fll turn to rest, and dream no more/' 
His midnight orisons he told, 
A prayer with every bead of gold, 
Consigned to heaven his cares and woes. 
And sunk in undisturb'd repose, 
Until the heath-cock shrilly crew. 
And morning dawn'd on Ben venue. 

— Sir Walter Scott. 
EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: mouldering, fitful, numbers, 
Caledon, festal, symphony, minstrelsy. Knighthood, dauntless, 
wizard, enchantress, lair, beacon, deep-mouthed, bloodhound, bay, 
clanging, heathery, frontlet, tainted, covert, cowered, falcon, cairn, 
rout, perforce, breathe, mettle, copsewood, spurned, unbated, jaded, 
haunch, stanch, vindictive, quarry, antlers, whinyard, Trosachs, 
baffled, chiding, worth, dingle, pinnacle, insulated, bulwarks, pre- 
sumptuous, Shinar, battlement, turret, minaret, pagod, mosque, 
boon, eglantine, hawthorn, fox-glove, night-shade, aspen, athwart, 
veering, moat, sapling, burnished, wildering, raptured, bower, lute, 
lave, canopy, betide, falchion, elastic, harebell, snood, plaid, brooch, 
betrayed, guileless, filial, fluttered, signet, vehemence, baron, crest, 
ptarmigan, mere, courser, fay, visioned, dappled, birchen, hilt, 
errant-knight, emprise, clematis, trophies, pennons, tapestry, 
garnish, menials, rite, fellest, heritage, wot, require, pibrochs, sedgy, 
warders, squadrons, spontaneous, spells, barge, estranged, brand, 
orisons. 

2. What does the author mean by "Harp of the North"? Why 
does he speak of it as a "Minstrel Harp"? 

3. Describe the ancient minstrels and their part in feasts and 
entertainments. 

4. What were the themes of the ancient minstrels? 

5. Explain, "bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep." 

1. Orisons (orl-zMnz). Prayers. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 359 

6. Describe the region in which the scenes of this poem occurred. 

7. At what time did the chase begin? 

8. Describe the chase as one would have seen and heard it from 
Benvoirlich. 

9. At what time did the chase reach the heights of Uam-Var? 
What effect had the chase had upon the pursuers by this time? 

10. What occurred between Uam-Var and Brigg of Turk? 

11. Describe the chase along the border of the lake. 

12. What did the lone Hunter expect to happen when the stag 
reached Benvenue? 

13. Explain the escape of the stag. 

14. What did the Hunter do upon the death of his steed? 

15. Describe the region through which the Hunter passed in his 
attempts to join his comrades. 

16. Describe Loch Katrine and its surroundings. 

17. How was the Hunter affected by the scene upon which he 
gazed? What was the Hunter's plight at this time? 

18. What was the Hunter's purpose in blowing his horn? 

19. What was the effect of his blast on the horn? Describe 
the "Lady of the Lake" as she appeared in the skiff. 

20. Describe the appearance of the Hunter. 

21. What preparation had been made for the coming of the 
Hunter? 

22. Describe the island home of Ellen. 

23. How do you account for the Hunter's being so alarmed when 
he heard the "clang of angry steel"? 

24. What impression do you get of Ellen's father? Explain. 

25. Whom does the Hunter represent himself to be? 

26. How did his entertainers avoid giving information concern- 
ing their identity? 

27. What hints does the poet give as to their station in life? 

28. Why was the Hunter unable to sleep? Tell of what he 
dreamed. 

29. Explain, "exil'd race," "Douglas eye." 

30. Tell the complete story of this Canto. 



360 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

THE COMBAT 

"The Combat" is taken from Canto Five of "The Lady of the 
Lake." Fitz-James had returned to the dangerous mountain 
region to see Ellen. On his way back to Sterling a false guide had 
led him to the camp of his avowed enemy, Rhoderick Dhu, where 
he spent the night without recognizing his host. In the morning 
he is conducted by Rhoderick to the boundary of Rhoderick's 
domain. On the way the rebel chieftain makes himself known to 
Fitz-James, and when they reach the boundary the fight ensues. 

THE COMBAT 

111 fared it then with Rhoderick Dhu, 
That on the field his targe^ he threw, 
Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide 
Had death so often dash'd aside ; 
For, trained abroad his arms to wield, 
Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield. 
He practised every pass and ward. 
To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard ; 
While less expert, though stronger far, 
The GaeP maintained unequal war. 
Three times in closing strife they stood, 
And thrice the Saxon blade^ drank blood ; 
No stinted draught, no scanty tide. 
The gushing flood the tartans^ dyed. 
Fierce Rhoderick felt the fatal drain, 
And shower'd his blows like wintry rain ; 
And, as firm rock, or castle-roof, 
Against the winter shower is proof, 

1. Targe (tarj). Shield. 

2. Gael (gal). A Scotch Highlander; here, Rhoderick Dhu. 

3. The Saxon blade. Fitz-James's sword. 

4. Tartans. Checkered or cross-barred woolen cloths, much 
worn by Scottish Highlanders. 



THE COMBAT 361 

The foe, invulnerable^ still, 
Foil'd his wild rage by steady skill ; 
Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand 
Forced Rhoderick's weapon from his hand. 
And backward borne upon the lea,^ 
Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. 

'' Now, yield thee, or by Him who made 
The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade !" 
*' Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy ! 
Let recreant^ yield, who fears to die.'* 
— Like adder darting from his coil. 
Like wolf that dashes through the toil,^ 
Like mountain-cat who guards her young, 
Full at Fitz- James's throat he sprung ; 
Received, but reck'd not of a wound. 
And lock'd his arms his foeman round. — 
Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own ! 
No maiden's hand is round thee thrown ! 
That desperate grasp thy frame might feel, 
Through bars of brass and triple steel ! — 
They tug, they strain ! down, down they go, 
The Gael above, Fitz-James below. 
The Chieftain's grip his throat compress'd. 
His knee was planted on his breast ; 
His clotted locks he backward threw, 
Across his brow his hand he drew. 
From blood and mist to clear his sight. 
Then gleam' d aloft his dagger bright !— 

1. Invulnerable. Incapable of being wounded. 

2. Lea. Grassland. 

3. Recreant (rek're-ant). A cowardly wretch. 

4. Toil. Net or snare. 



362 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

But hate and fury ill supplied 
The stream of life's exhausted tide, 
And all too late the advantage came, 
To turn the odds of deadly game ; 
For, while the dagger gleam'd on high, 
Reel'd soul and sense, reeled brain and eye. 
Down came the blow ! but in the heath 
The erring blade found bloodless sheath. 
The struggling foe may now unclasp 
The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp ; 
Unwounded from the dreadful close,^ 
But breathless all, Fitz- James arose. 

— Sir Walter Soott. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: targe, ward, draught, tartans, 
invulnerable, adder, clotted, reeled, erring. 

2. Explain, "Fitz- James's blade was sword and shield." 

3. What advantage had Fitz- James? What advantage had 
Rhoderick Dhu? 

4. Explain, " No stinted draught, no scanty tide. " 

5. How did Fitz-James bring "the proud Chieftain to his knee"? 

6. Describe the last struggle between the fighters. 

7. What saved Fitz-James? 



THE TOURNAMENT^ AT ASHBY 

This selection is taken from "Ivanhoe," the best known and one 
of the most popular of the Waverley Novels. 

During the absence of Richard I., of England, who was a leader 
in the third crusade and who was captured and detained in Austria 
as he was returning from the Holy Land, John, his brother, busied 

1. Close (kloz). A grapple in wrestling. 

2. Tournament (toor'na-ment). In medieval times, a pageant 
in which two opposing parties of men in armor, contended, on horse- 
back, in mock combat. A prize or favor was usually bestowed upon 
the leader of the winning side by a "Queen of Love and Beauty" 
chosen for the occasion. 



THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 363 

himself in securing the favor of the Norman nobles and the Saxon 
subjects. At the time of this story he had won over a few of the 
less loyal nobles of the North of England. He had planned the 
tournament at Ashby partly to organize his forces and partly to 
secure the friendship of the Saxons of that district, who had little 
love for the Normans who had seized their estates. 

Shortly before the tournament Brian de Bois-Guilbert, a prom- 
inent Norman leader in the Knights Templars, had returned from 
Palestine and joined himself to John's forces. Ivanhoe, a Saxon 
knight who had gone on the crusade with Richard, had also made 
his way back to England, and in disguise had visited the home of 
his father, Cedric, 

In the first day of the tournament, Ivanhoe, in disguise, and 
under the name Disinherited Knight, had challenged and defeated 
in single combat Brian de Bois-Guilbert, much to the satisfaction 
of the Saxons and to the discomfiture of John and the Normans. 

THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 

The heralds left their pricking up and down, 

Now ringen trumpets loud and clarion. 

There is no more to say, but east and west, 

In go the speares sadly in the rest. 

In goth the sharp spur into the side. 

There see men who can just and who can ride; 

There shiver shaftes upon shieldes thick, 

He feeleth through the heart-spone the prick; 

Up springen speares, twenty feet in height. 

Out go the swordes to the silver bright; 

The helms they to-hewn and to-shred; 

Out bursts the blood with stern streames red. 

— Chaucer. 

Morning arose in unclouded splendour, and ere the sun 
was much above the horizon the idlest or the most eager 
of the spectators appeared on the common, moving to the 
lists^ as to a general centre, in order to secure a favourable 
situation for viewing the continuation of the expected 
games. 

The marshals and their attendants appeared next on 

1. Lists. The field or arena on which a tournament takes place. 



364 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

the field, together with the heralds,^ for the purpose of re- 
ceiving the names of the knights who intended to joust,^ 
with the side which each chose to espouse. This was a 
necessary precaution, in order to secure equality betwixt 
the two bodies who should be opposed to each other. 

According to due formality, the Disinherited Knight^ 
was to be considered as leader of the one body, while 
Brian de Bois-Guilbert,^ who had been rated as having 
done second-best in the preceding day, was named first 
champion of the other band. Those who had concurred 
in the challenge adhered to his party, of course, excepting 
only Ralph de Vipont,^ whom his fall had rendered unfit so 
soon to put on his armour. There was no want of distin- 
guished and noble candidates to fill up the ranks on either 
side. 

In fact, although the general tournament, in which all 
knights fought at once, was more dangerous than single 
encounters, they were, nevertheless, more frequented and 
practiced by the chivalry^ of the age. Many knights, who 
had not sufficient confidence in their own skill to defy a 
single adversary of high reputation, were, nevertheless, 
desirous of displaying their valour in the general combat, 
where they might meet others with whom they were more 
upon an equality. On the present occasion, about fifty 
knights were inscribed as desirous of combating upon each 

1. Heralds. Officials who issued and announced challenges, 
marshalled the combatants and bore all messages in the tournament. 

2. Joust (jiist). To join battle. 

3. Disinherited Knight. Ivanhoe, the hero of the story. He was 
the disinherited son of the Saxon thane, Cedric, and the lover of 
Rowena, Cedric's ward and kinswoman. 

4. Brian de Bois-Guilhert (bwa'gel-bar')- A Norman noble, a 
member of the order of Knights Templars, one of three military 
orders founded for religious purposes during the crusades. 

5. Ralph de Vipont (ve-p6x'). 

6. Chivalry. The system of knighthood. 



THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 365 

side, when the marshals declared that no more could be 
admitted, to the disappointment of several who were too 
late in preferring their claim to be included. 

About the hour of ten o'clock the whole plain was 
crowded with horsemen, horsewomen, and foot-passengers, 
hastening to the tournament; and shortly after, a grand 
flourish of trumpets announced Prince John and his ret- 
inue,^ attended by many of those knights who meant to 
take share in the game, as well as others who had no such 
intention. 

About the same time arrived Cedric the Saxon, with 
the Lady Rowena,^ unattended, however, by Athelstane. 
This Saxon lord had arrayed his tall and strong person in 
armour, in order to take his place among the combatants ; 
and, considerably to the surprise of Cedric, had chosen to 
enlist himself on the part of the Knight Templar.^ The 
Saxon, indeed, had remonstrated strongly with his friend 
upon the injudicious choice he had made of his party ; but 
he had only received that sort of answer usually given 
by those who are more obstinate in following their own 
course than strong in justifying it. 

His best, if not his only, reason for adhering to the 
party of Brian de Bois-Guilbert, Athelstane had the pru- 
dence to keep to himself. Though his apathy of dispo- 
sition prevented his taking any means to recommend 
himself to the Lady Rowena, he was, nevertheless, by no 
means insensible to her charms, and considered his union 
with her as a matter already fixed beyond doubt by the 
assent of Cedric and her other friends. It had therefore, 

1. Retinue. Train of attendants. 

2. Lady Rowena. The Disinherited Knight, as victor of the 
previous day's combat, had chosen Lady Rowena "Queen of Love 
and Beauty." 

3. The Knight Templar. Brian de Bois-Guilbert. 



366 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

been with smothered displeasure that the proud though 
indolent Lord of Coningsburgh beheld the victor of the 
preceding day select Rowena as the object of that honour 
which it became his privilege to confer. In order to pun- 
ish him for a preference which seemed to interfere with his 
own suit, Athelstane, confident of his strength, and to 
whom his flatterers, at least, ascribed great skill in arms, 
had determined not only to deprive the Disinherited 
Knight of his powerful succour,^ but, if an opportunity 
should occur, to make him feel the weight of his battle-axe. 

De Bracy, and other knights attached to Prince John, 
in obedience to a hint from him, had joined the party of 
the challengers, John being desirous to secure, if possible, 
the victory to that side. On the other hand, many other 
knights, both English and Norman, natives and strangers, 
took part against the challengers, the more readily that the 
opposite band was to be led by so distinguished a champion 
as the Disinherited Knight had proved himself. 

As soon as Prince John observed that the destined 
Queen of the day had arrived upon the field, assuming 
that air of courtesy which sat well upon him when he was 
pleased to exhibit it, he rode forward to meet her, doffed 
his bonnet, and, alighting from his horse, assisted the Lady 
Rowena from her saddle, while his followers uncovered at 
the same time, and one of the most distinguished dis- 
mounted to hold her palfrey.^ 

"It is thus," said Prince John, "that we set the dutiful 
example of loyalty to the Queen of Love and Beauty, and 
are ourselves her guide to the throne which she must this 
day occupy. Ladies," he said, "attend your Queen, as you 
wish in your turn to be distinguished by like honours." 

1. Succour. Help. 

2. Her palfrey. Her saddle horse. 



THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 367 

So saying, the Prince marshalled Rowena to the seat of 
honour opposite his own, while the fairest and most distin- 
gished ladies present crowded after her to obtain places as 
near as possible to their temporary sovereign. 

No sooner was Rowena seated than a burst of music, 
half drowned by the shouts of the multitude, greeted her 
new dignity. Meantime, the sun shone fierce and bright 
upon the polished arms of the knights of either side, who 
crowded the opposite extremities of the lists, and held eager 
conference together concerning the best mode of arranging 
their line of battle and supporting the conflict. 

The heralds then proclaimed silence until the laws of 
the tourney^ should be rehearsed. These were calculated in 
some degree to abate the dangers of the day — a precaution 
the more necessary as the conflict was to be maintained 
with sharp swords and pointed lances. 

The champions were therefore prohibited to thrust with 
the sword, and were confined to striking. A knight, it was 
announced, might use a mace^ or battle-axe at pleasure; 
but the dagger was a prohibited weapon. A knight un- 
horsed might renew the fight on foot with any other on the 
opposite side in the same predicament; but mounted 
horsemen were in that case forbidden to assail him. When 
any knight could force his antagonist to the extremity of 
the lists, so as to touch the palisade' with his person or 
arms, such opponent was obliged to yield himself van- 
quished, and his armour and horse were placed at the dis- 
posal of the conqueror. A knight thus overcome was not 
permitted to take farther share in the combat. If any 

1. Tourney (toor'ni). Tournament. 

2. Mace. A heavy club, often with spiked metal head, used to 
crush armor. 

3. Palisade. A fence made of strong stakes or timbers, firmly 
set in ground. 



368 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

combatant was struck down, and unable to recover his feet, 
his squire or page^ might enter the Hsts and drag his master 
out of the press ; but in that case the knight was adjudged 
vanquished, and his arms and horse declared forfeited. 
The combat was to cease as soon as Prince John should 
throw down his leading staff, or truncheon^ — another pre- 
caution usually taken to prevent the unnecessary effusion 
of blood by the too long endurance of a sport so desperate. 
Any knight breaking the rules of the tournament, or other- 
wise transgressing the rules of honourable chivalry, was 
liable to be stript of his arms, and, having his shield re- 
reversed,^ to be placed in that posture astride upon the bars 
of the palisade, and exposed to public derision, in punish- 
ment of his imknightly conduct. Having announced these 
precautions, the heralds concluded with an exhortation to 
each good knight to do his duty, and to merit favour from 
the Queen of Beauty and Love. 

This proclamation having been made, the heralds with- 
drew to their stations. The knights, entering at either 
end of the lists in long procession, arranged themselves in 
a double file, precisely opposite to each other, the leader 
of each party being in the centre of the foremost rank, a 
post which he did not occupy until each had carefully 
arranged the ranks of his party, and stationed every one 
in his place. 

It was a goodly, and at the same time an anxious, sight 
to behold so many gallant champions, mounted bravely and 
armed richly, stand ready prepared for an encounter so 
formidable, seated on their war-saddles like so many pillars 

1. His squire or page. Pages and squires were attendants on 
the knights. This service gave them their training for knighthood. 

2. Truncheon. A staff used as the official badge or sign of author- 
ity by the master of ceremonies of the tournament. 

3. Reversed. Facing in a position opposed to its usual one. 



THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 369 

of iron, and awaiting the signal of encounter with the same 
ardour as their generous steeds, which, by neighing and 
pawing the ground, gave signal of their impatience. 

As yet the knights held their long lances upright, 
their bright points glancing to the sun, and the streamers 
with which they were decorated fluttering over the plumage 
of the helmets. Thus they remained while the marshals 
of the field surveyed their ranks with the utmost exactness, 
lest either party had more or fewer than the appointed 
number. The tale^ was found exactly complete. The mar- 
shals then withdrew from the lists, and William de Wyvil, 
with a voice of thunder, pronounced the signal words, 
''Laissez aller!"^ The trumpets sounded as he spoke; the 
spears of the champions were at once lowered and placed 
in the rests f the spurs were dashed into the flanks of the 
horses ; and the two foremost ranks of either party rushed 
upon each other in full gallop, and met in the middle of 
the lists with a shock the sound of which was heard at a 
mile's distance. The rear rank of each party advanced at 
a slower pace to sustain the defeated, and follow up the 
success of the victors, of their party. 

The consequences of the encounter were not instantly 
seen, for the dust raised by the trampling of so many 
steeds darkened the air, and it was a minute ere the anxious 
spectators could see the fate of the encounter. When the 
fight became visible, half the knights on each side were 
dismounted — some by the dexterity of their adversary's 
lance ; some by the superior weight and strength of oppo- 
nents, which had borne down both horse and man ; some 

1. Tale. The count. 

2. Laissez alter (le'sa a-la'). [French.] **Let go." The signal 
to begin. 

3. Rests. Attachments on the breastplates to support the butts 
of the lances. 

—24 



370 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

lay stretched on earth as if never more to rise ; some had 
already gained their feet, and were closing hand to hand 
with those of their antagonists who were in the same 
predicament ; and several on both sides, who had received 
wounds by which they were disabled, were stopping their 
blood by their scarfs, and endeavouring to extricate them- 
selves from the tumult. The mounted knights, whose 
lances had been almost all broken by the fury of the en- 
counter, were now closely engaged with their swords, shout- 
ing their war-cries, and exchanging buffets, as if honour 
and life depended on the issue of the combat. 

The tumult was presently increased by the advance of 
the second rank on either side, which, acting as a reserve, 
now rushed on to aid their companions. The followers of 
Brian de Bois-Guilbert shouted: "Ha! Beau-seant!^ Beau- 
seant! For the Temple! For the Temple!" The oppo- 
site party shouted in answer; " Desdichado! ^ Desdichado!'* 
which watchword they took from the motto upon their 
leader's shield. 

The champions thus encountering each other with the 
utmost fury, and with alternate success, the tide of battle 
seemed to flow now toward the southern, now toward the 
northern, extremity of the lists, as the one or the other 
party prevailed. Meantime the clang of the blows and 
the shouts of the combatants mixed fearfully with the 
sound of the trumpets, and drowned the groans of those 
who fell, and lay rolling defenceless beneath the feet of the 
horses. The splendid armour of the combatants was now 
defaced with dust and blood, and gave way at every stroke 

1. Beau-seant (bo'sa-a-N'). [French.] Beau-seant was the name 
of the Templars* banner, which was half black, half white, to 
intimate, it is said, that they were candid and fair towards Christians, 
but black and terrible towards infidels. (Scott.) 

2. Desdichado (dez-de-cha'do). [Spanish.] Disinherited. 



THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 371 

of the sword and battle-axe. The gay plumage, shorn from 
the crests, drifted upon the breeze like snow-flakes. All 
that was beautiful and graceful in the martial array had 
disappeared, and what was not visible was only calculated 
to awake terror or compassion. 

Yet such is the force of habit, that not only the vulgar^ 
spectators, who are naturally attracted by sights of horror, 
but even the ladies of distinction, who crowded the galle- 
ries, saw the conflict with a thrilling interest certainly, but 
without a wish to withdraw their eyes from a sight so ter- 
rible. Here and there, indeed, a fair cheek might turn 
pale, or a faint scream might be heard, as a lover, a brother, 
or a husband was struck from his horse. But, in general, 
the ladies around encouraged the combatants, not only by 
clapping their hands and waving their veils and kerchiefs, 
but even by exclaiming, "Brave lance! Good sword!" 
when any successful thrust or blow took place under their 
observation. 

Such being the interest taken by the fair sex in this 
bloody game, that of the men is the more easily understood. 
It showed itself in loud acclamations upon every change 
of fortune, while all eyes were so riveted on the lists that 
the spectators seemed as if they themselves had dealt and 
received the blows which were there so freely bestowed. 
And between every pause was heard the voice of the 
heralds exclaiming, " Fight on, brave knights ! Man dies, 
but glory lives! Fight on; death is better than defeat! 
Fight on, brave knights! for bright eyes behold your 
deeds!" 

Amid the varied fortunes of the combat, the eyes of 
all endeavoured to discover the leaders of each band, who, 
mingling in the thick of the fight, encoui'aged their com- 

1. Vulgar. Common; of low degree. 



372 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

panions both by voice and example. Both displayed great 
feats of gallantry, nor did either Bois-Guilbert or the Dis- 
inherited Knight find in the ranks opposed to them a 
champion who could be termed their unquestioned match. 
They repeatedly endeavoured to single out each other, 
spurred by mutual animosity,^ and aware that the fall of 
either leader might be considered as decisive of victory. 
Such, however, was the crowd and confusion that, during 
the earlier part of the conflict, their efforts to meet were 
unavailing, and they were repeatedly separated by the 
eagerness of their followers, each of whom was anxious to 
win honour by measuring his strength against the leader 
of the opposite party. 

But when the field became thin by the numbers on 
either side who had yielded themselves vanquished, had 
been compelled to the extremity of the lists, or been other- 
wise rendered incapable of continuing the strife, the Tem- 
plar and the Disinherited Knight at length encountered 
hand to hand, with all the fury that mortal animosity, 
joined to rivalry of honour, could inspire. Such was the 
address of each in parrying and striking, that the spectators 
broke forth into a unanimous and involuntary shout, ex- 
pressive of their delight and admiration. 

But at this moment the party of the Disinherited 
Knight had the worst ; the gigantic arm of Front-de-Boeuf =^ 
on the one flank, and the ponderous strength of Athelstane 
on the other, bearing down and dispersing those immedi- 
ately exposed to them. Finding themselves freed from 
their immediate antagonists, it seems to have occurred to 
both these knights at the same instant that they would 
render the most decisive advantage to their party by aiding 

1. Animosity. Violent hatred. 

2. Front-de-Bceuf (fr6N-de-bef). A Norman knight fighting on 
the side of Bois-Guilbert. 



THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 373 

the Templar in his contest with his rival. Turning their 
horses, therefore, at the same moment, the Norman spurred 
against the Disinherited Knight on the one side and the 
Saxon on the other. It was utterly impossible that the 
object of this unequal and unexpected assault could have 
sustained it, had he not been warned by a general cry from 
the spectators, who could not but take interest in one 
exposed to such disadvantage. 

''Beware! beware! Sir Disinherited!'' was shouted so 
universally that the knight became aware of his danger; 
and striking a full blow at the Templar, he reined back 
his steed in the same moment, so as to escape the charge 
of Athelstane and Front-de-Boeuf . These knights, there- 
fore, their aim being thus eluded, rushed from opposite 
sides betwixt the object of their attack and the Templar, 
almost running their horses against each other ere they 
could stop their career. Recovering their horses, however, 
and wheeling them round, the whole three pursued their 
united purpose of bearing to the earth the Disinherited 
Knight. 

Nothing could have saved him except the remarkable 
strength and activity of the noble horse which he had won 
on the preceding day. 

This stood him in the more stead, as the horse of Bois- 
Guilbert was wounded, and those of Front-de-Boeuf and 
Athelstane were both tired with the weight of their gigantic 
masters, clad in complete armour, and with the preceding 
exertions of the day. The masterly horsemanship of the 
Disinherited Knight, and the activity of the noble animal 
which he mounted, enabled him for a few minutes to keep 
at sword's point his three antagonists, turning and wheel- 
ing with the agility of a hawk upon the wing, keeping his 
enemies as far separate as he could, and rushing now 
against the one, now against the other, dealing sweeping 



374 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

blows with his sword, without waiting to receive those 
which were aimed at him in return. 

But although the lists rang with the applauses of his 
dexterity, it was evident that he must at last be overpow- 
ered; and the nobles around Prince John implored him 
with one voice to throw down his warder, ^ and to save so 
brave a knight from the disgrace of being overcome by- 
odds. 

*' Not I, by the light of Heaven ! " answered Prince John : 
'Hhis same springal,^ who conceals his name and despises 
our proffered hospitality, hath already gained one prize, 
and may now afford to let others have their turn. '' As he 
spoke thus, an unexpected incident changed the fortune 
of the day. 

There was among the ranks of the Disinherited Knight 
a champion in black armour, mounted on a black horse, 
large of size, tall, and to all appearance powerful and 
strong, like the rider by whom he was mounted. This 
knight, who bore on his shield no device of any kind, had 
hitherto evinced very little interest in the event of the 
fight, beating off with seeming ease those combatants who 
attacked him, but neither pursuing his advantages nor 
himself assailing any one. In short, he had hitherto acted 
the part rather of a spectator than of a party in the tourna- 
ment, a circumstance which procured him among the 
spectators the name of Le Noir Faineant,^ or the Black 
Sluggard. 

At once this knight seemed to throw aside his apathy, 
when he discovered the leader of his party so hard bested ; * 
for, setting spurs to his horse, which was quite fresh, he 

1. His warder. His leading staff or truncheon. 

2. Springal. A youth. Here used contemptuously, meaning 
youngster. 

3. Le Noir Faineant (le-nwar' fe-ne-ax'). 

4. Bested (be-sted'). Beset; put in peril. 



THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 375 

came to his assistance like a thunderbolt, exclaiming, in a 
voice like a trumpet-call, '' Desdichado, to the rescue ! " It 
was high time; for, while the Disinherited Knight was 
pressing upon the Templar, Front-de-Boeuf had got nigh 
to him with his uplifted sword; but ere the blow could 
descend, the Sable Knight dealt a stroke on his head, 
which, glancing from the polished helmet, lighted with 
violence scarcely abated on the chamfron^ of the steed, 
and Front-de-Boeuf rolled on the ground, both horse and 
man equally stunned by the fury of the blow. Le Noir 
Faineant then turned his horse upon Athelstane of Con- 
ingsburgh; and his own sword having been broken in his 
encounter with Front-de-Boeuf, he wrenched from the 
hand of the bulky Saxon the battle-axe which he wielded, 
and, like one familiar with the use of the weapon, bestowed 
him such a blow upon the crest that Athelstane also lay 
senseless on the field. Having achieved this double feat, 
for which he was the more highly applauded that it was 
totally imexpected from him, the knight seemed to resume 
the sluggishness of his character, returning calmly to the 
northern extremity of the lists, leaving his leader to cope 
as he best could with Brian de Bois-Guilbert. This was no 
longer matter of so much difficulty as formerly. The 
Templar's horse had bled much, and gave way under the 
shock of the Disinherited Knight's charge. Brian de Bois- 
Guilbert rolled on the field, encumbered with the stirrup, 
from which he was unable to draw his foot. His antagonist 
sprung from horseback, waved his fatal sword over the 
head of his adversary, and commanded him to yield him- 
self; when Prince John, more moved by the Templar's 
dangerous situation than he had been by that of his rival, 
saved him the mortification of confessing himself van- 

1. Chamfron (cham'fron). The ornamental frontpiece of the 
armor for a war horse's head. 



376 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

quished by casting down his warder and putting an end to 
the conflict. 

It was, indeed, only the relics and embers of the fight 
which continued to burn ; for of the few knights who still 
continued in the lists, the greater part had, by tacit con- 
sent, forborne the conflict for some time, leaving it to be 
determined by the strife of the leaders. 

The squires, who had found it a matter of danger and 
difficulty to attend their masters during the engagement, 
now thronged into the lists to pay their dutiful attendance 
to the wounded, who were removed with the utmost care 
and attention to the neighbouring pavilions, ^ or to the 
quarters prepared for them in the adjoining village. 

Thus ended the memorable field of Ashby-de-la-Zouche,^ 
one of the most gallantly contested tournaments of that 
age; for although only four knights, including one who 
was smothered by the heat of his armour, had died upon 
the field, yet upwards of thirty were desperately wounded, 
four or five of whom never recovered. Several more were 
disabled for life; and those who escaped best carried the 
marks of the conflict to the grave with them. ■ Hence it is 
always mentioned in the old records as the *' gentle and 
joyous passage of arms of Ashby." 

It being now the duty of Prince John to name the 
knight who had done best, he determined that the honour 
of the day remained with the knight whom the popular 
voice had termed Le Noir Faineant. It was pointed out 
to the Prince, in impeachment of this decree, that the vic- 
tory had been in fact won by the Disinherited Ejiight, who, 
in the course of the day, had overcome six champions with 
his own hand, and who had finally unhorsed and struck 

1. Pavilions. Movable or open structures for temporary shelter. 

2. Ashhy-de-la-Zouche (ash'bi-de-la-zoosh'). 



THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 377 

down the leader of the opposite party. But Prince John 
adhered to his own opinion, on the ground that the Disin- 
herited Knight and his party had lost the day but for the 
powerful assistance of the Knight of the Black Armour, 
to whom, therefore, he persisted in awarding the prize. 

To the surprise of all present, however, the knight thus 
preferred was nowhere to be found. He had left the lists 
immediately when the conflict ceased, and had been 
observed by some spectators to move down one of the 
forest glades with the same slow pace and listless and in- 
different manner which had procured him the epithet of 
the Black Sluggard. After he had been summoned twice 
by sound of trumpet and proclamation of the heralds, it 
became necessary to name another to receive the honours 
which had been assigned to him. Prince John had now no 
further excuse for resisting the claim of the Disinherited 
Knight, whom, therefore, he named the champion of the 
day. 

Through a field slippery with blood and encumbered 
with broken armour and the bodies of slain and wounded 
horses, the marshals of the lists again conducted the victor 
to the foot of Prince John's throne. 

"Disinherited Knight," said Prince John, "since by 
that title only you will consent to be known to us, we a 
second time award to you the honours of this tournament, 
and announce to you your right to claim and receive from 
the hands of the Queen of Love and Beauty the chaplet^ of 
honour which your valour has justly deserved.'' 

The Knight bowed low and gracefully, but returned no 
answer. 

While the trumpets sounded, while the heralds strained 
their voices in proclaiming honour to the brave and glory 

1. Chaplet. A wreath or garland for the head. 



378 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

to the victor, while ladies waved their silken kerchiefs and 
embroidered veils, and while all ranks joined in a clamour- 
ous shout of exultation, the marshals conducted the Dis- 
inherited Knight across the lists to the foot of that throne 
of honour which was occupied by the Lady Rowena. 

On the lower step of this throne the champion was made 
to kneel down. Indeed, his whole action since the fight 
had ended seemed rather to have been upon the impulse of 
those around him than from his own free will ; and it was 
observed that he tottered as they guided him the second 
time across the lists. Rowena, descending from her sta- 
tion with a graceful and dignified step, was about to place 
the chaplet which she held in her hand upon the helmet 
of the champion, when the marshals exclaimed with one 
voice, '' It must not be thus ; his head must be bare. " The 
knight muttered faintly a few words, which were lost in 
the hollow of his helmet; but their purport seemed to be 
a desire that his casque^ might not be removed. 

Whether from love of form or from curiosity, the mar- 
shals paid no attention to his expressions of reluctance, but 
unhelmed him by cutting the laces of his casque, and un- 
doing the fastening of his gorget. ^ When the helmet was 
removed, the well-formed yet sunburnt features of a young 
man of twenty-five were seen, amidst a profusion of short 
fair hair. His countenance was as pale as death, and 
marked in one or two places with streaks of blood. 

Rowena had no sooner beheld him than she uttered a 
faint shriek ; but at once summoning up the energy of her 
disposition, and compelling herself, as it were, to proceed, 
while her frame yet trembled with the violence of sudden 
emotion, she placed upon the drooping head of the victor 

1. Casque (kask). A helmet. 

2. Gorget (gor'jet). A piece of armor protecting the throat. 



THE TOURNAMENT AT ASHBY 379 

the splendid chaplet which was the destined reward of the 
day, and pronounced in a clear and distinct tone these 
words: "I bestow on thee this chaplet, Sir Knight, as the 
meed^ of valour assigned to this day's victor." Here she 
paused a moment, and then firmly added, "And upon 
brows more worthy could a wreath of chivalry never be 
placed!" 

The knight stooped his head and kissed the hand of the 
lovely Sovereign by whom his valour had been rewarded ; 
and then, sinking yet farther forward, lay prostrate at her 
feet. 

There was a general consternation. Cedric, who had 
been struck mute by the sudden appearance of his banished 
son, now rushed forward, as if to separate him from 
Rowena. But this had been already accomplished by the 
marshals of the field, who, guessing the cause of Ivanhoe's 
swoon, had hastened to undo his armour, and found that 
the head of a lance had penetrated his breastplate and in- 
flicted a wound in his side. 

— Sir Walter Scott. 

EXERCISES 

1. Words for definition and study: tournament, marshals, pre- 
caution, concurred, adhered, chivalry, adversary, flourish, retinue, 
remonstrated, apathy, destined, palfrey, dutiful, marshalled, tem- 
porary, maintained, predicament, antagonist, truncheon, effusion, 
posture, encounter, helmets, rests, dexterity, extricate, buffets, 
acclamations, gallantry, animosity, parrying, unanimous, agility, 
warder, springal, device, abated, chamfron, cope, fatal, relics, embers, 
pavilions, impeachment, decree, epithet, encumbered, chaplet, 
kerchiefs, purport, casque, gorget, profusion, prostrate, conster- 
nation. 

2. What were the crusades? 

3. What were the duties of a knight? Describe a knight's armor. 

4. Describe the scene at Ashby on the morning of the tourna- 
ment. 

5. Describe the entrance of Prince John; the entrance of 
Rowena, Queen of Love and Beauty. 

1. Meed. Reward. 



380 CLASSICS FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE 

6. Give the laws governing the tournament as they were an- 
nounced by the heralds. 

7. Describe the arrangement of the opposing sides. What was 
the purpose of the rear ranks of knights? 

8. Describe the first shock of the combat. 

9. Describe the fighting after the first shock of the combat. 

10. How were the fighters affected by the presence of the ladies? 

11. Explain Athelstane's part in the combat. 

12. Describe the attack on the Disinherited Knight made by 
the three opponents. 

13. Explain how he was saved by the Black Sluggard. 

14. What evidence is there that Prince John was partial? What 
caused him to be so? 

15. Why did John not wish to name the Disinherited Knight 
champion of the second day of the tournament? 

16. Describe the ceremony of crowning the victor, 

17. Tell the story of the tournament. 



